Obituary of Joseph Yanosik

YANOSIK - Joseph J., 77 years old, of Lloyd Harbor, NY, passed away on December 23, 2011 after a brave year-long battle with cancer. He died peacefully at his home surrounded by his loving family. Joe was born on September 30, 1934 in Yonkers NY to Joseph Yanosik and Julia Fecisko. He met the love of his life, Marie LaGaccia, while they were both in their teens, and they married in 1958. Throughout high school and college, Joe was a gifted athlete excelling in basketball and golf. His golfing abilities were so great that he considered becoming a professional golfer at one point. Instead, Joe graduated from New York University in 1957 with a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering Eta Kappa Nu and soon became the Chief Engineer at Litton Industries where he worked for several years. In 1966, he co-founded his own company, Betatronix Inc., which he built into the nation's leading manufacturer of custom precision potentiometers. Betatroni became a critical supplier to the aerospace and defense industries, and was the recipient of several supplier recognition awards from Raytheon, Lockheed, Hughes and NASA. Joe was a brilliant design engineer responsible for several innovations and patents in his specialized field of potentiometers. End products ranging from Sikorsky helicopters to NASA's Mars Rover all featured his designs. He literally wrote the book on "outer space potentiometers", contributing the chapter on potentiometers to "Space Vehicle Mechanisms and Design", the industry textbook. He loved his work, and chose not to retire until well into his seventies. Mr. Yanosik was a quiet-spoken yet hard-working man full of inner strength and perseverance. When Betatronix was completely destroyed by a fire in the late '70s, he rebuilt it from scratch into a multi-million dollar company. When he suffered a minor stroke in 2000, his love of golf inspired him to fully recover to continue to win tornaments against men half his age. After running Betatronix as President for 40 years, Mr. Yanosik retired in 2007 and spent his remaining years playing golf at his winter home in Florida and at championship courses around the world, and spending time with his family. Joe was a longtime member of the Huntington Crescent Club and the Loxahatchee Club in Jupiter, Florida, and he won their club championships multiple times over the years. Up to his final days, Joe displayed the warmth and humor that defined his personality. A true gentleman, he will be remembered by all who knew him as a wonderful human being. He was a loving husband, a devoted father and grandfather, a great golfing buddy, a compassionate boss, and much more. He is survived by his wife Marie, his son Joseph, his daughter Marianne, his sister Lorraine Kostik and his beloved granddaughter Kelly. Visitation will be held on Tuesday, December 27th, and Mass/Burial will be held at St. Patrick's Churchn Huntington, Long Island, NY on Wednesday, December 28th. Contact M.A. Connell Funeral Home at 631-427-1123 for details.