Birth date: Apr 17, 1953 Death date: Feb 8, 2016
Joseph Alvin Sawyer, Jr., the son of Joseph Alvin Sr. and A. Omega Sawyer, was born on April 17, 1953, at Reid Memorial Hospital in Richmond, Indiana. He was the second oldest of three children. Joe was raised in Liberty, Indiana, Read Obituary
, fellow patent attorneyWritten by: Thomas H. JacksonI knew Joe from his days at Bell Labs and the two of us car-pooled to Seton Hall School of Law together. I will miss him. I never met you, Sherrie, but I have learned of you from Joe before his passing and from Sam Williamson, a mutual friend, who was with us at Bell Labs.
Dear Sherri, I just learned of Joseph’s passing and I’m sorry for your loss. I always struggle a bit to get beyond the overused phrases when offering condolences. My prayers are with you (really). We will be having a St Andrew 50-year reunion in 2019, and I hope that I get to meet you again after all these years, either at that gather or elsewhere. -Brian Aull
To the wife and family of Joe Sawyer: It is with great sadness that I just now learn of the passing of Joe, with whom I worked briefly at Chips & Technologies. Many years ago, during a holiday luncheon to which he brought the most delicious rolls, he graciously agreed to share the recipe with me. Obviously written from memory, what he shared that day has become one of our own family holiday staples, and I think of him every time I pull out the treasured yellow legal page. My tenure and our association there was brief but friendly, and I?m very sorry we didn?t keep in touch ? but I wanted you to know that I remember him as an intelligent, sweet and humble man, which you and the world has lost all too soon. My sincerest condolences. Joanne Burns
I received my copy of the Kettering (GMI) Alumni newsletter today and was profoundly saddened to see that Joe had passed away. I was Joe’s doubles partner in the summer of 1975 GMI Intramural tennis tournament and, if my memory serves me correctly, we won. I cherished Joe’s friendship back in the day and was delighted to reconnect with him via LinkedIn a few years back. I was in awe of his professional achievements and can only hope that he found an equal measure of happiness in his all-too-short life. Rest in peace, old friend! Ed Goettl GMI Class of ’76 Hendersonville, NC
Dear Sherri, I am so sorry that I just heard of Joe’s passing. My heart aches for you and your family’s loss. I will always cherish the fact that he was a friend of mine. I was blessed that Joe stopped to visit with me about 2.5 years ago while he was visiting his mother. That was the last time I spoke with him. We talked and laughed as if no time had passed since our days in college. He was a good man. I will pray for God to mend your heartbreak and comfort you through the coming days. Karen Anderson Moon
The Rascoe family send their love and sympathy to Russel and his family. God always pick his best flower to go into his rose garden. Our prayer goes out to the family. From the Rascoe family.
Dear Sherri, We were all very very fortunate to know Joe. Joe was not only my patent counsel and on the board of Percept from it’s founding, he was also a friend for 25 years, and always there for everyone. We will miss him greatly, but his spirit of innovation and integrity is a legacy that lives on and will not be forgotten. All our thoughts and prayers go out to you and your family and friends, Scott Lewis, and on behalf of all of Percept’s employees and advisors
Dear Sherri, Teresa Bowman called me late last week to share the news of Joe’s passing. Gail and I are so very sorry for your loss. Joe was one of the first African-American lawyers I met when I moved to San Francisco in 1982. Since then, I have been honored to call you and Joe my friends. I have many years of fond memories: meeting for a drink and talk at Circolos, sharing dinner with the Bowmans in Moraga, listening to music at Yoshi’s, playing basketball in the Lawyer’s League, discussing and debating issues of the day, and so many more too numerous to count. What always comes to mind when I think of Joe is his reverence for his parents and his gratitude for their instilling in him the qualities that made him the man he is: strong, proud and determined. He was so fiercely (and justly) proud of who he was, where he came from, and what he accomplished in this life. How else can you explain Joe’s unswerving loyalty to the Cleveland Browns and Jim Brown? This is how I remember Joe, and it makes me smile. With Love to you, your family and the Sawyer family, Joe Sandoval and Gail Kavanagh
Dear Sherri and Family, My wife and I send our deepest, heartfelt, condolences out to you. I’ve know Joe for over 25 years, and fortunately for me, we became friends quickly and have remained so ever since. He called me 2 days before he passed-we were planning to have lunch that week. My phone was not on me at the time he called; wow-I wish that I could have talked with him for one last time. The world is missing a great person; I know that God must have plans for Joe. I’m devastated with his loss, and I know that I’m not the only friend of Joe who feels his loss in a huge way. When I met Joe (“way” back in the late 80’s), I was a newbie engineer. I remember sitting in my cubical thinking about some technical issue, and Joe walked by- he stopped and introduced himself. I was blown away with Joe’s charisma; he was like a magnet for people. And, he made everyone feel like they were his best friend. We had a running joke: Being that Joe is African American, and I am also, anytime we talked for more than 5 or 10 minutes, we’d head back to work-and always parted with: “let’s breakup before anyone thinks we’re starting a club”. Another thing that I remember vividly is that back then, in Silicon Valley, people adhered to hierarchies in the company, and executives (and even managers and such) did not fraternize with employees who were too far “down the stack” position-wise. Well Joe ignored that-he didn’t exclude anyone and everyone felt better after talking with him. I love Joe for being himself. Joe was like a mentor and brother, no matter how busy he would be, he’d always, and I mean *always*, stop and talk to you or offer advice if you had some issue. Through Joe’s friendship, I had the honor of meeting his lovely wife Sherri. Sherri is a wonderful, warm-hearted person also- so she and Joe were really a perfect match. My wife met Sherri also. I could write an entire book on Joe, he was (and I believe still is) an amazing person. His memory and spirit will stay with us forever, and our prayers and thoughts go out to Sherri and Joe’s entire family, friends, and colleagues. He will be missed greatly. Gary and Denise Tiggs
I grew up across the street from Joe and it was no surprise that he had done so well in his life. There are just to many good memories of Joe to put one ahead of the others. Although I did not see Joe very often after school I miss him. His smile, his laugh, his ability to listen and the way that he said “right”. God bless Joe’s family in the days and years to follow. Richard Davis Liberty, IN.
