Joseph Daniel Rause died February 6, 2001 at Westmoreland Hospital in Greensburg, PA. He was my dad. He taught me how to be responsible, how to work hard, how to be respectful of others, how to play a guitar, how your word is your bond, how to hammer a nail.We will miss him. But he is enjoying paradise with his father and mother and old friends. It will only be a short while and we will see him again.
I want to thank everyone for their caring thoughts and prayers since his passing.
Tom Rause
April 25, 2001
The following article appeared in the Tribune-Review:
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Regional News - |
By Jennifer Reeger
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Joseph D. Rause went beyond the call of duty to lend a hand.
A police officer and drug enforcement agent for more than 30 years, Mr. Rause took time to counsel kids in trouble without bringing them into the legal system.
"He was pretty much willing to bend over backward for you," said his son, John Rause. "If you needed something, he would be there."
Joseph D. Rause, 66, of Greensburg, died Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2001, in Westmoreland Regional Hospital, Greensburg.
Born in Greensburg to Anthony and Carmela Spino Rause, Mr. Rause was a police officer for the city of Greensburg for seven years. He was a narcotics officer with the state Attorney General's Office for 25 years until his retirement in 1990.
His son Tom Rause said people would stop him in the streets of Greensburg to talk about his father.
"They would say, `You wouldn't believe what a great guy your dad is,'" Tom Rause recalled. "He would go the extra mile."
Mr. Rause's children recalled their father, who worked undercover in the 1960s and 1970s, as someone who would run out to help a family at a moment's notice.
"He would counsel a family's kids without having to bring them into the system to give them some guidance and so on," John Rause said.
"Anywhere you go in the city, everybody knows Joe Rause," son Dan Rause said. "Everybody has a story to tell you what he did for them. That's just how he always was."
The Rause family also remembers the weird outfits and cars their father used as part of his undercover duties.
"When he first started, he went undercover and grew his hair long, grew a beard and dressed up in raggedy clothes," Tom Rause recalled.
The children remember their dad driving confiscated cars, including a van with dice hanging from the rearview mirror.
"In all his police work, he never had to fire one round," Dan Rause said. "He might have only had to pull his weapon once."
Added son Jim Rause, "Even the criminals liked him."
"Big Joe," as Mr. Rause was called, was a star quarterback for Greensburg High School in the early 1950s, even being named "Mayor for the Day" in 1953.
Mr. Rause received a full scholarship to study and play football at Clemson University, but he had to leave college after two years when his father died, his family said.
He worked at a steel mill in Michigan to support family back in Greensburg, and married his high school sweetheart, Celeste Zubalik Rause, in 1955, family members said.
He then entered the U.S. Army and was stationed in Kentucky until returning to Greensburg in 1957 and beginning his law enforcement career shortly after.
Don Cavanaugh of Greensburg met Mr. Rause when the two were high school freshmen and served with him on the Greensburg police force.
"I don't know if there's a truer friend or more caring friend that I've ever had in my life," Cavanaugh said.
"He was an excellent athlete," Cavanaugh continued. "He was a good team player, and I never heard him talk harshly about anyone."
Mr. Rause's family said he was an avid golfer and a member of the Hannastown Golf Club.
And he loved food - both eating and cooking it.
"He tried his hand at canning some stuff; none of it ever tasted good," Jim Rause said with a laugh.
But his spaghetti was made from scratch.
"He loved his food and he loved to cook for people," Dan Rause said.
Mr. Rause was a member of Our Lady of Grace Church, the Chiefs of Police Association, the Fraternal Order of Police and the Hilltop Social Club.
Mr. Rause is survived by his wife, Celeste Zubalik Rause; six sons, Tom of North Carolina, Joe of Texas, Jim of Greensburg, John of Ohio, Dan of Latrobe, and David of West Virginia; his daughter, Susy Reynolds of Alabama; 14 grandchildren; his sister, Carolyn Bryant of Greensburg; three brothers, Louis of Virginia, Tony of Greensburg, and Vince of Mt. Lebanon; and several nieces and nephews.
Relatives and friends will be received from 3 to 5 and 7 to 9 p.m. today in the Clement L. Pantalone Funeral Home Inc., 409 W. Pittsburgh St., Greensburg.
A blessing service will be held in the funeral home at 9 a.m. Friday, followed by a funeral Mass at 9:30 a.m. in Our Lady of Grace Church. Interment will follow in Greensburg Catholic Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the American Diabetes Association, 300 Penn Center Blvd., Wilkinsburg, PA 15221.
