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- Tulsa World, September 1, 2000
Joseph Thomas Bessette
Former publishing exec, Trees! volunteer dies 9/1/00
Joseph Thomas Bessette, a retired executive of Pennwell Publishing Co., died Wednesday. He was 75.
A memorial service is set for 11 a.m. Sept. 9 at Fitzgerald's Ivy Chapel Funeral Home.
Bessette was born in Chicago, and he graduated from the University of Illinois.
He served in the Marine Corps during World War II, seeing action in Guam and Iwo Jima.
In 1947 he married Elizabeth Ann Porter.
After the war, he went to work in the promotions department of Popular Mechanics magazine, moving later to the publication's advertising and sales department.
After working in a variety of other publishing ventures, Bessette joined Pennwell in 1974. He retired in 1993 as a publishing group vice president.
After retirement, he was a publicity volunteer for Up with Trees! and Tulsa Senior Services, and he served as the publisher of Vintage Tulsa for several years.
He was a member of All Souls Unitarian Church.
He is survived by his wife, Ann Bessette; three sons, Michael Thomas Bessette of Lake Bluff, Ill., Chad Porter Bessette of Londonderry, Vt., and Matthew Kane Bessette of Castle Rock, Colo.; a daughter, Susan Elizabeth Burchall of Libertyville, Ill.; and eight grandchildren.
Friends are making memorial contributions to Up with Trees! or Tulsa Senior Services.
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