Joe Spracale left hairy Tempe Beach.jpg

Spracale New Picture or Painting.jpg



Steve Spracale .jpg

Joe Spracale Friend Request.jpg

Blurry picture of lizard from Spracale's class.jpg

7.
8.
Red Hot Rocket Spracale Paddle.jpg

Report on Frogs and Fish.jpg

Report on Fish2 sunfishBs.jpg

Report on Fish 3 archer fishBs.jpg

Report on Fish from Spracale's Class.html
Report on Fish from Spracale's Class.html
10.

Spacale Oct 14, 2023.jpg

 
 ·


Joesph P. Spracale, 93 of Tempe, entered into God’s kingdom on Mar. 9, 2025.  Joe was born on March 4, 1932, to the Parents of Joesph and Mae Spracale.  Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Joe would move to Buffalo, New York at the age of eight, seeking a better life. Eventually, Joe would move to Arizona in hopes of continuing his education. Living with his Uncle Sam, Joe was provided a roof over his head and the opportunity to attend high school.  Once in Tempe and firmly settled, Joe would begin his schooling at Tempe High School and this is where his legacy would begin. In 1949, Joe would meet Sandra Palmer, the love of his life and they would begin dating.  In 1951, both of them would graduate from Tempe High and continue their beautiful relationship—as they pursued their goals in higher education.  The two were married on Aug. 28, 1954 at Tempe First United Methodist Church, the same church they would attend until their passing.  For their honeymoon, Joe and Sandy would travel to the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas but the trip was cut short for Sandy’s desire to open wedding gifts.  After graduating from Arizona State, Joe was drafted in 1955 and completed his basic training in Fort Knox, Kentucky. After basic training was completed, Joe was sent to Frankfurt, Germany where the family would soon blossom.  Stationed at Gelnhausen, their first son, Victor Palmer, was born on Jan. 22, 1957. The ironic thing about Vic’s delivery was Joe had to drive back to the base—as Sandy was left alone with German doctors who didn’t speak English.  Upon returning to Arizona, Joe would eventually take his first teaching job at Broadmor Elementary, teaching fourth grade. At Broadmor, his teaching career would flourish as he continued his studies at Arizona State.  Upon earning his master’s degree in Educational Administration, Joe would be placed across the street at McKemy Junior High.  As he always conveyed to me, they basically told him to pack up and get out.  As a teacher myself, I always found this story to be hilarious. As he worked his way through the 60s, Joe was found to be a fair and reasonable Assistant Principal the kids loved and cherished.  After several years serving as the AP, working with Ralph Lingerfelt, Joe eventually became the Principal at McKemy and the next seventeen years were filled with nothing but pride and amazing accomplishments.  The “Proud Crowd” as he called them were a group of kids that respected him and he respected back.  Having an amazing staff that worked with him always helped, too. The number of kids that entered and exited that great school only made his job better.  As far as I know, he never missed a day, other than when he injured himself by picking an orange; the branch snapped back and hit him in the eye.  Toward his retirement, I did convince him to take a trip to Oakland and we did go fishing a few times—so blame that on me.  Attending Connolly Junior High and making a lot of friends from McKemy, I never heard a negative comment about my dad.  It was always; “We love your dad and he’s the greatest.” This never left my mind and still resonates with all three of us today.  One thing Paula, Vic and myself found to be challenging was shopping in small-town Tempe; it didn’t matter if it was FedMart, Yellow Front or Skaggs, he always ran into people he knew.  What was meant to be a twenty-minute trip, turned into fifty.  As a kid this dragged on every time and seemed to never stop. Looking back at this and other pieces of the puzzle tells you why he was so special and important to the people of Tempe.  I could go on forever with the stories and this would basically become a novel but I’ll leave the memories you have of my father to complete that.  We will always love and cherish you dad, you were an amazing father, caretaker and humanitarian—Steve, Vic and Paula.  God Bless; there will never be another person like you. 
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Tempe Impact Education (TIE) Online: https://bit.ly/JosephSpracale
Survived by:
Sister; Ann Plasari
His three children; Victor, Paula and Steven—wife Nicole
Grandchildren; Jenna and Haley
Brother; Art Schmitt—wife Christy
Brother; Lou Schmitt
Cousin; Dolly Turner
Nancy Mascari
Joe was preceded in death by his brother, Sam
Cousins, Chick and Joe Mascari, Sr.
Nieces and Nephews
Robert and David Spracale
HC Hansen, Sonni Lynn Stephens, Holly Bird, and Theresa Hansen
Jon, Scott, Annaliese and Josef Schmitt
Michael Schmitt and Andrea Winter
Margaret Dibble and Joe Mascari
Tina, Kathy, Sam, Michael and Charlie Mascari
William and Daniel Saporiti
Services will be held on March 29th at 10:00 a.m.
Dayspring Methodist Church
1365 E. Elliott Road
Parking will be tight so please plan to arrive early