Joseph Patrick Cosgrove

Joseph Patrick Cosgrove

Born in Boston MA, on 11/6/1930 deceased September 5, 2022 at 91 years of age. Joe suffered from a bad heart murmur and dementia.

Joe was one of the most charismatic people you could meet and everyone he met was a friend. As a teenager Joe developed a radio show for teens which missed an award as they could not believe a teen could write such a good script. He was very active in church and his pastor, Harold Ockenga took Joe under his wing and made sure Joe went to Wheaton College in Illinois.

At college Joe was the class prankster while washing a lot of dishes and being a cheerleader. He loved putting on skits for classmates.

After Wheaton he attended Fuller Seminary in Pasadena, CA. His preaching days did not last long and he became a disk jockey in Los Angeles where he created blocks of music and met many of the artists of the day. He went to Reno and ran a radio station and interviewed all the stars at the casino. Then he ended up in Palm Springs running a TV station. He also helped Barry Goldwater’s election and Ronald Reagan’s election. He managed to work for several Fortune 500 companies during his career.

Joe’s pride was meeting Joshua Meador, the main artist for Walt Disney at the time. Josh and he became friends and produced a short film together that Joe used to teach about about America. They met at the Highlands Inn in Monterey where Joe had become their spokesman and remained so for twenty years. Joe spent many hours at the Disney Studio learning from Josh.

Joe authored a book, Walt Dreamers Me in 2014 which chronicled his life and love of Disney. He was proud to be invited to Club 33 in Disneyland on its opening day and had membership there for many years. He loved sharing the club so more could enjoy the experience.

Joe was married four times, the last to Janet Cosgrove just short of 23 years. Joe is survived by three sisters, PJ, Helen and Naomi. His sister Rosemary preceded him in death. Joe had four children, 2 boys and two girls. (Cameron, Courtney, Vaishali and Marla). He had three step sons belonging to Janet. (Mike, Don and Rick)

In lieu of flowers that our cat would eat, donations would be appreciated for our dog’s surgery. She was loyal to Joe, especially laying at his feet while he ate so she could collect crumbs. Joe would be happy knowing we could save her. https://gofund.me/d621cb00