Josef Pozar

Josef ""Joe"" Pozar, 76, passed away on October 5, 2013 surrounded by his loved ones in Lakewood, Colorado. Josef was born in Dorna Watra, Romania. He was one of ten children of Friedrich Pozar and Sofia (Minigez) Pozar. He is survived by his beloved wife of 51 years, Katharina (Pinter) Pozar; daughters Chris Murphree, Karoline Knutson and Susan Clark; sons-in-law, John Murphree and Craig Clark; grandchildren Matt and Brian Murphree, Nicole and Tyler Knutson, Katie and Courtney Clark; siblings Wilhelmena (Minna) Pozar, Eduard (Eddie) Pozar, Hilde Pozar, Erika Pozar and Alfred (Fredie) Pozar. He was preceded in death by his siblings Maria Pozar, Michael Minigez, Valentin Pozar, and Adolf Pozar. When he was 3 years old his family moved to Eckertal, Germany, a border town to East Germany, where he grew up. After the war, he would sneak people across the border in his town. He would swap boarder passage as barter for food and other items. Joe lost both his parents by the time he was 17. He took care of his younger siblings for two years until his mother died. Upon her death, Joe was deemed too young to raise his siblings so both Erika and Fredie were sent to an orphanage to live. In 1956, Joe came to America to live with his aunt and uncle in Cleveland, Ohio. He started to work in a machine shop as an apprentice and worked his way up. Joe met and married Katharina in Cleveland, Ohio and moved to Denver in fall of 1969. In 1976, Joe opened his own tool & die machine shop which he ran for over 20 years. Some of his accomplishments were prototypes for the toilet that went to outer space. He also made many parts for the space shuttle Columbia, and worked with Martin Marietta and Ball Aerospace and provided parts for the development of a kidney dialysis machine. He also invented and patented a teabag squeezer that is still sold at Celestial Seasonings in Boulder. Joe was an outdoorsman and loved to hunt and fish. Although he never managed to harvest an elk, he is the only person we know who ever rode one in the process! He was a gun collector and even reloaded his own ammunition. Joe made sure that all three of his daughters knew how to shoot a weapon and defend themselves. He shared the joy of hunting with his grandchildren and son-in-laws and passed on many stories and tricks he learned over the years. Joe loved sightseeing around Colorado with his family. He enjoyed camping, driving his motor home, 4-wheeling in the mountains in his jeep and taking his children boating. One of Joe and Kathi's favorite things to do was to go 4-wheeling and hunting for edible mushrooms with family. As the grandkids got older, this tradition was shared with all six grandchildren and if you ask any one of them they all have stories to tell. Joe and his family were grateful for the support he received during his repeated hospital and rehab stays since February of this year. The family would especially like to thank the compassionate medical teams at Kaiser, Palliative Care and Hospice. A Memorial Service will be held on Monday, October 14, 2013 at 11:00am at Horan & McConaty Family Chapel, 5303 East County Line Road (one block west of Holly Street) in Centennial. Please share your memories of Josef and condolences with his family by signing the guestbook below.