Joseph Calderone was born in Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania in August 8, 1946 to Samuel and Helen Calderone. He lost his mother at a very young age and was primarily raised by his grandmother Ella and father. In his early years, Joe loved baseball and playing drums. Later his father moved him to south Florida where he enlisted in the Army and served in the Vietnam war. It was there that Joe learned photography and was moved into the Green Berets where he was used on special assignments by the military to gather intelligence. After the war Joe married his first wife Jill Wilding, and had three children together Michael, Paul and Brian. Joe continued his love for photography and pursued his career in that field and was later hired by NASA. Where he had an exciting career filming many of the launches , meeting astronauts and at times was assigned to travel to remote areas around the world to take photographs. His true passion was the arts and won many awards in photography for his work. Once he retired, he was able to move to one of his favorite areas , the mountains of North Carolina, where he continued his passion of art and was able to get it displayed in several locations.

Despite many traumatic experiences that he experienced in his life, Joe always maintained a cool, calm demeanor; remained positive, had a contagious smile and would brighten those all around him with his quick wittedness and amazing sense of humor. He truly loved his children and made sure they felt it, any chance he could. Joe finally succumbed to Parkinsons and dementia March 10, 2023 at the age of 76 with his children by his side. He is survived by his brother Sammy Calderone, 3 children Michael, Paul and Brian , daughters in law Leah and Amber and 6 grandchildren Emma, Cole, Gavyn, Aiden, Gianni and Alina.