It is with heavy heart that I share the news that our dear friend Joe Provenzano is no longer with us. Joe, one of long-time volunteer leaders in our ISA water/wastewater division, passed away in his home in Naugatuck, Connecticut on Sept 28, 2022. Joe had been involved with ISA for more than 50 years, and was for many years the program chair of our water/wastewater division and ISA water/wastewater and automatic controls symposium. Joe was a recipient of the ISA’s society-level Enduring Service award in 2021 and multiple leadership awards from the ISA water/wastewater division.
Joe Provenzano was born in Astoria, New York, USA on May 9, 1937, the son of the late Thomas and Mildred (Cocito) Provenzano. He served his country honorably in the United States Army. Joseph played for the Brooklyn Dodgers farm team and had an invitation to play baseball for the New York Yankees farm team, however he made the decision to attend college rather than pursue a career in sports. Joseph received his B.A. degree in computer science from Adelphi University in Garden City, NY and a Master’s Degree in Physics from Pace University. He was the Assistant Vice President for Bristol Babcock Incorporated in Waterbury for many years until his retirement, and was the owner/operator of KPRO Engineering LLC in both Naugatuck and Southbury. Joseph enjoyed watching the UConn Men and Women’s basketball games and was an avid N.Y. Yankees fan, but loved the time he spent with his family and grandchildren. He was a longtime member of the the (ISA) International Society of Automation and a member of the Naugatuck Lodge of Elks # 967.
Since the start of his career in 1957, Joe has been involved in the automation, instrumentation and control sector for over 50 years. He has worked in companies large and small, and been involved in positions ranging from hands-on technical roles to being part of executive management teams.
Joe has been an active ISA member for over 50 years, holding positions throughout the organization that include officer-level roles at the section, district, division, and society levels as well as being involved with standards committee work. He was also one of the key organizers of the first ISA Water/Wastewater and Automatic Controls Symposium which took place in 2003, and has been heavily involved with the symposium ever since.
Joe began his career in 1957 when he graduated with an Electrical Technology Associates Degree from Brooklyn Community College located New York City. His first job out of school was with Sperry Gyroscope where he started as an electronics test technician. He moved up through the ranks and was soon managing one of their electronics groups. While working at Sperry he completed courses at Adelphi University and graduated June 1965 with a degree in Applied Physics. In October of 1965 Joe got married.
Towards the end of 1965, Joe joined ITT WorldComm in their downtown New York City office for a 7-month project where he designed ship-to-shore electronics. After that project was complete, he took a permanent position in with Data Master Inc. a division of the Bristol Company in their Long Island NY facility. In 1966 he bought his first home in Long Island New York.
Joe went on to have a 29 year career with Bristol where he worked on a variety of projects. In 1983 Joe became VP of Systems Engineering. He was one of the key people involved in the development of the Bristol-Babcock RTU-3350, and RTU 3380. These RTU’s were then integrated into Bristol’s Network 3000 Distributed control System. (the RTU’s preceded RTU-3330 that many of us are familiar with). During his time at Bristol, Joe was one of the key people who supervised many of the larger and complex system integration projects that the systems group undertook. While at Bristol, Joe also completed a Masters in Computer Science from the Pratt Institute located in Brooklyn New York in 1970.
In 1994, Joe left Bristol to take the position of General Manager with Aaron Associates, a Connecticut-based System Integration firm. As part of AA, he helped build the company from a small firm to one with over $ 4 million/year in revenue.
In 2009, Joe left Aaron Associates and joined Process and Energy Measurement Corp. that same year. As part of PEMO, Joe moved into the role of Environmental Specialist working at the plant level in Connecticut.
Soon after he started a new firm called KPRO Engineering Services LLC. The company provided Instrumentation, and Engineering services to Contractors serving the Water and Wastewater Industry, as was active into 2022. Even up to his last days, Joe was always excited to be able to help both utilities and contractors with their various instrumentation projects. Joe was a true professional who enjoyed the work that he did.
Joe was laid to rest on October 3, 2022 at St. James Cemetery in Naugatuck, Connecticut, USA with full military honors. He was the loving husband of the late Gloria Marie (Circosta) Provenzano who passed away in 2022. Joe is survived by his two children and three grandchildren.