Joseph "Joe" William Koska

Mass of Christian Burial for Joseph “Joe” Koska, 42, of Marshall, will take place at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, December 29, 2022, at Holy Redeemer Catholic Church in Marshall.  Visitation will be Wednesday, December 28, 2022, from 4:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. with a CCW Rosary at 4:00 p.m. and a Parish Prayer Service at 7:00 p.m. at the Horvath Remembrance Center in Marshall.  Visitation will continue one hour prior to the service, 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m., on Thursday, December 29, at Holy Redeemer Catholic Church.  Interment will take place at a later date.

Joe Koska, born Joseph William Koska, born September 22, 1980 was the son of William Frank Koska and Margaret Mary Koska and was the youngest of three children, the others being Suzanne and Robert. He passed away peacefully on Sunday, December 18, 2022, at the age of 42.

He will always be remembered for his ready smile and quick laugh, even when he was hurting.

Joe spent 42 years on earth, loving music, his cat Paco and, most of all, cooking. Joe would often ask people to give him a list of random ingredients and it didn’t matter what off-the-wall weird stuff he was given; he would give you a recipe for something delicious.

The other great love of Joe’s life was music. He was a very talented drummer, who loved playing in several different bands and also excelled in the Marshall Tiger marching band. One of his favorite pastimes was attending concerts with his friends.

Joe’s enduring kindness will be the most-remembered thing about him. From the way he could bridge the “front of house” and “back of house” divide that often exists in a restaurant to the simple act of sitting and coloring in a coloring book with a child who wandered away from home until his mother came to pick him up.

It is not a secret to many, though at times he hid it well, that Joe struggled with alcohol addiction, and that is what caused his death at such a young age. It is easy to be angry with him for not getting help for his issues and hard not to look inward and say what else might we ourselves have done to help him. We must remember that alcoholism is not a weakness of character or a personal failing, but rather a disease in its own right, with genetic variations that affect a person’s susceptibility to risk of addiction. None of us truly knows what Joe struggled with, but if anything good can come of this, let it be renewed resolve and knowledge for the person struggling with addiction that there is always someone there holding out their hand to help and to those with loved ones struggling with addiction that, though it may take a third, fourth or fifth time through treatment, to never give up hope and never stop reaching out.

Joe’s struggles have ended, and though the hard part of saying goodbye is now ours, the hardest part for Joe is over, and he now knows nothing but joy, love and peace. Goodbye Joe, we will love you forever and miss you always.

He is survived by his parents, Bill and Peg Koska and his siblings, Sue (Chris) Shuckhart and Rob (Caroline) Koska and his nephew Ethan and niece Natalie.