Joseph Amato

Joseph Amato was born August 31, 1938, in Detroit, Michigan. Only child of Ethel and Joseph, he died on January 24, 2025. Ever in the cocoon of a loving family, he is preceded in death by his beloved wife Cathy of 55 years, and is grieved by their four children Felice, Anthony, Adam, and Elizabeth, and six grandchildren.

An only child, he was nurtured in love by his mother Ethel and father Joe and by his grandparents and family. Over his years of study and teaching, he was blessed to have a good-spirited wife, energetic and richly different children, and a rich variety of friends, teachers, colleagues, students, and acquaintances.

He studied history at the University of Michigan, Université de Laval in Québec, and the University of Rochester, from which he received his PhD.

Married in August of 1966, Joe and Cathy went to the new college on the prairie, Southwest Minnesota State, in the Fall of 1969.

Active in the college’s curriculum and faculty representation while living in Cottonwood and Marshall, he came to love local rural life. He and colleagues created a curriculum and wrote and published many books for Rural and Regional Studies.

Joe taught and wrote on European cultural and intellectual history, on which he wrote several key books. He complemented them with reflective books and memoirs on golf and bypass surgery. In the last decade, he added fiction, philosophy, religion, and poetry to his ongoing search for meaning.

Between chapters and books, he tried to be good to his wife, was ever willing to fill his loved grandchildren with stories, books, advice, and nonsense, found time for friends, prayed, and tried to remain faithful to the history of his hard-working immigrant and migrant ancestors.

Memorial service will be 11:00 a.m. Saturday, February 1 at the Gearty Delmore Plymouth Chapel, 15800 37th Ave N (@ Vicksburg Lane), with visitation one hour prior. Private interment at a later date.