Joseph Frank Bonfiglio

Joseph Frank Bonfiglio went home to God on April 2, 2025, with his beloved wife Kathryn and his children at his side. He was nine days short of his 95th birthday.

Joe was born to Vincent and Marie (Messina) Bonfiglio on April 11, 1930 in Omaha, Nebraska. When Joe was six, Vincent went to California to seek better employment. When he found it, he wired Marie: “Sell the house, and bring Joseph.” Joe, his mother, another family of four, a dog, and all their belongings made the trip in a 1930 Ford sedan to San Jose, which Joe called home for the rest of his life.

Joe learned his love of sports as a youth. Though he discovered and enjoyed football at San Jose High School, it was in baseball that he excelled. When he graduated in 1948, he was voted the top athlete in his class. Joe continued his successful baseball career at San Jose State, where in 1952 he earned his Bachelor of Science degree in biological sciences with an emphasis in entomology. He then began work on a Masters in Science at Cal, but he was drafted and served two years as an Army medical lab tech. During this time Joe decided to be an educator, so after his discharge, he earned a teaching credential and began his career in 1957 at Camden High School. Joe wore many hats during his 11 years there: biology and chemistry teacher, baseball and basketball coach, student activities director, and counselor. In the mid-1960s, while working full time and raising his young family, he earned his MA in Counseling from San Jose State. This allowed him to move to West Valley Community College in 1968, where he was a both a counselor and biology teacher at different times until his retirement in 1992. Many of his colleagues at West Valley became lifelong friends. Joe cared deeply about his students and athletes; he was known to be tough but fair. Even today, his children get the question, “Do you know Joe Bonfiglio?” followed by some version of, “He was demanding, but he changed my life.”

Joe met Kathryn Sparry on a blind date in late 1955 and referred to his proposal just a few months later as “the best decision I ever made.” They married in June 1957. During his last hospitalization, when he mentioned that he was coming up to his 67th wedding anniversary, his nurse asked, “What’s the secret?” His one-word answer came immediately: “Respect.”

Joe was passionate about and known for his hobbies: RV-ing (they were longtime members of the Roving Roosters), woodworking, fishing, woodcarving, cross stitching, and beekeeping. But most important to him were his family and his active Catholic faith. He was deeply proud of his children and their families, his greatest treasure. He is survived by his wife Kathy; his children Greg Bonfiglio, S.J., Ron Bonfiglio (Barbara), and Beverly Stephens (Doug); his grandchildren Brigette and Nick (Katie) Bonfiglio; Kathryn (Angelo), Douglas (Kelly), and Dany Stephens; and his great-grandchildren Aubry, Luke, Weston, and Hudson. He is also survived by his nieces and nephews whom he loved greatly and who loved him greatly in return.

A viewing will be at 10:00 a.m. and a Mass of Christian Burial at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, April 8, at Holy Spirit Catholic Church, 1200 Redmond Ave., San Jose, CA.