BEAUMONT, Texas — Funeral arrangements have been announced for Joseph 'Joe' Tortorice Jr.
The Beaumont native and founder of Jason's Deli died on August 10 after a lengthy battle with cancer. He was 70.
His friends and family will gather with his Rosary recited at 6 p.m. on Thursday, August 15 at St. Anthony Cathedral Basilica in Beaumont. A mass of Christian burial will be celebrated at 10 a.m. on Friday, August 16.
His entombment, with military honors, will follow at Forest Lawn Memorial Park with a reception to follow at Beaumont Country Club at 5355 Pine Street.
Tortorice, who had watched his father put a deli into his Beaumont grocery store, started his own deli in Beaumont in 1976.
He since turned that little deli in the Gateway Shopping Center nationwide -- with nearly 300 stores in 28 states and more than 12,000 employees.
Jason’s Deli remains a family business where Tortorice’s son Jay now owns 16 restaurants, his daughter Ashley is Director of Customer Relations and his son Rob is Chief Operating Officer.
Although Jason’s Deli made him a resounding success, Tortorice once said he considered "success" taking ownership of the well-being of others.
Tortorice, who had a passion for God, was very active in the Catholic Church and in the Kolbe Prison Ministry through the Diocese of Beaumont.
He was the director for the ministry’s retreat at the Stiles Unit in Beaumont and on Monday nights would visit the inmates to read scripture with them.
In the past year when Tortorice’s illness kept him from those Monday night visits, the inmates would pray for him, according to Steve McGaha, Director of Criminal Justice at the Diocese of Beaumont.
“They will be heartbroken when they hear he has passed,” McGaha told 12News.