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Joseph W. House  1957

Cullum No. 21600-1957 | June 2, 2017 | Died in Tampa, FL
Interment: West Point Cemetery, West Point, NY


Joseph Wayne “Joe” House was a son of Alabama through and through, born in Birmingham, schooled there, and enrolled at Auburn in 1951. Concurrently, he had joined an Air Force Reserve group that was soon activated, and Joe found himself no longer a student but a P-51 crew chief in Germany. Eventually, an old grad saw potential in this bright young airman, applied some persuasion, got him into the Prep School, and he was suddenly a plebe. Joe found the Academy’s academics very challenging, and he wisely limited his extracurricular activities.
Nevertheless, he was a recognized cadet leader who wore corporal and lieutenant chevrons; this at a time when only a very limited number of the Second Class were corporals and the majority of the First Class were sergeants. His Class’s third cadet summer was the “Cow Trip,” an extensive tour of installations of all three services, one of which was Fort Benning, GA. Joe’s mom and dad brought him and two classmates home for a weekend and thoughtfully arranged the company of three delightful Birmingham belles, one of whom was the lovely Sue Hughes, an Auburn University fashion merchandising major. Later that summer, on leave, Joe and Sue began a romantic relationship destined to last their lifetime. They were married in Birmingham 10 days after graduation.
Joe’s branch was Field Artillery, but, having the instincts of an infantryman, it was both Jump and Ranger schools and then the basic course before their first post, a mortar battery of the 504th Airborne Battle Group at Fort Bragg, NC. Soon the unit cycled to near Wiesbaden, where son Mark was born. Joe then became the S1 of an airborne artillery battalion at Baumholder. A family of four with the arrival of Michael, they returned to the States to the advanced course, split between Fort Sill, OK and the Modern Weapons Employment School at Fort Bliss, TX, with Joe staying to teach a segment on the Russian threat.
In 1964 Joe reported to MACV and served as advisor to the 42nd ARVN Ranger Battalion, operating in Bac Lieu Province and returning with two Bronze Stars, one for valor. A joint staff assignment followed, NORAD, in Colorado Springs, CO, then CGSC at Fort Leavenworth, KS. After a short assignment at DIA, Joe was selected to stand up the first-to-exist Airborne Air Defense Battalion and integrate it into the 82nd Airborne Division. After two years in command, he moved to serve as the division G2. Another short Washington tour found him in Officers Assignments, then to the War College, where he remained on the staff after graduation and additionally earned an MS in mass communications.
Joe moved the family back to Germany (Heidelberg) in 1976 to take the position of executive officer to CinCUSAREUR, then to command of the 11th Air Defense Brigade for three years, then back to Fort Bragg in his final assignment as chief of staff, XVIII Corps. Joe retired in 1984 with a remarkable four awards of the Legion of Merit, the Combat Infantryman Badge, Ranger Tab and Master Parachutist Wings.
Joe’s second career was with USAA. He and Sue bought a home in Tampa, FL, where Joe took the reins of USAA’s Southeast Region as general manager. It was a time of growth for the company—an expanded membership base countrywide, and most especially in the southern states, that demanded a tenfold increase of staff and a physical plant which grew from a small office building into an expansive campus. Joe built upon USAA’s already recognized reputation for customer service, which bore fruit in the aftermath of Hurricane Andrew when the company drew industry citations for its rapid and widespread aide to its membership.
Joe’s marching orders from the USAA president included fostering the company’s reputation for community service. Over a period of more than 30 years, as models of partnership in civic responsibility, Joe and Sue both took leadership roles as members, presidents and chairs in a myriad of entities in Tampa politics, industry, commerce, education, sports, arts and charity. They co-chaired the United Way Campaign of the Florida Sun Coast, and both actively supported the Hillsborough Community College and the Tampa Arts Center, with Joe on the Board of Directors of each. When he happened to be president of the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce at the time, Joe learned that the legendary George Steinbrenner was interested in moving his New York Yankees spring training from Florida’s Atlantic Coast to the Gulf Coast, Joe led the effort to build a new spring training stadium, gaining County Commission and taxpayer approval as enticement. Joe also served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the University of Tampa, initiating a fourfold expansion in the student body, with new buildings and a stellar development of curriculum, making it one of Florida’s finer universities. Although Joe had a great love for the community, his greatest love was for his family.
Joe was an active member of the West Point Society of Florida-West Coast, serving three years as president and almost 30 years on the Society’s board. In 2017 the Society established the Joe House Community Leader Award, and the AUSA presented him the General Paul D. Adams Award for Community Service. Well Done, Joe House; Be Thou at Peace.

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