​

Remembering Joe Leube

EFCC Treasurer

​

Joseph (Joe) Leube, Treasurer of East Falls Community Council, died March 24, 2024. He was 83 years old. Joe was a life-long resident of Northwest Philadelphia. He grew up in Germantown in the days of neighborhood markets; for a time, he delivered groceries with his wagon. Joe and Linda, his late wife, met in the ninth grade at Germantown High School. They raised their family on Warden Drive. A neighbor recalls that the Leubes were most welcoming when she and Handsel
moved in up the street.

Joe’s family still has roots in the area. His brother, Gerry, was a renowned hairdresser, working for 60 years in Germantown, Mount Airy, and finally in Chestnut Hill. His son, Chris, attended Penn Charter, where Linda worked in the library. Chris is now a chef, who has worked at The Hill in Whitemarsh and is now sous chef at Arcadia University. Daughter Beth Leube Strock attended Springside. Beth remains in the area as a Certified Financial Advisor with Best Egg, a consumer finance company, and is captain of the Philadelphia Girls Rowing Club. Joe’s four grandchildren, Jack Strock, Alex Strock, Austin Leube, and Desmond Leube, were very much part of his life.

In his professional life, Joe was a pension actuary, specializing in company retirement plans. Among other achievements, he had been a vice president at Alexander and Alexander and with Aon Consulting, and he served on the boards of several regional and national professional societies. Long after his retirement, Joe continued to return to his barber near the Ledger Building where Joe had long worked.

The First Presbyterian Church in Germantown was an important part of Joe’s life. As a Ruling Elder, he has long been active in the governance of the church. He sang in the Chancel and Oratorio Choirs, and donated the handcrafted Linda Leube Memorial Concert Piano.

East Falls Community Council is the parent organization of East Falls Village, Friends of Mifflin, East Falls NOW, and Friends of McMichael Park. Henry Donner of East Falls Village writes, “For as long as I can remember Joe served as Treasurer of the East Falls Community Council, East Falls Village and … other EFCC related organizations. We take for granted that a treasurer maintains accurate books and records. What we don’t take for granted is what those records tell us, what we can add to our efforts, what we cannot take on, our membership’s utilization, and how we’re doing as an organization. Those records are a critically important guidepost. Joe was Treasurer of EFV from its very beginnings, and the information he shared with us enabled the Village to grow as an organization. But most of all, Joe informed us with clear judgment, cautious advice, and absolute decency. The loss of Joe is sorely felt by those of us who knew or worked with him.”

​

But retirement was not all work. With friends and family, Joe went sailing on the Chesapeake, took ocean cruises, traveled in the US and abroad, vacationed in a rustic Vermont camp, and more. 

We in the East Falls remember Joe as a friend who was always generous with his time. When he first met a neighbor at coffee after church, she mentioned that her house was cold; he came straight over, still in his blue suit, to start the furnace on his hands and knees; on another occasion, he did change from church clothes to cart her drier – too big for the basement stairs – around to the narrow alley behind her house and into the basement. When another Fallser’s street tree fell over, Joe eagerly came with his chainsaw, lending another to her neighbor to prune a large tree. During Covid, he occasionally brought together solo friends, safely spaced apart on the patio.

​

Friends are invited to a Memorial Service at First Presbyterian Church of Germantown, 35 W. Chelten Ave., Germantown, on Friday, April 5, at 1 PM. Parking is limited and carpooling is recommended.

​