Thanks to everyone who has signed Joe’s guestbook. A new entry was added recently. Remember, when you sign the guestbook, the entry will be hidden until approved (this is to avoid spam). Again, thank you everybody.
~Lauren
JoeLavigne.net is a memorial website set up in the memory of Joe LaVigne by his friends in southwest Florida; Lauren and Carol. Many of Joe’s southwest Florida friends gathered at the local Planetarium, where Joe spent many years working and volunteering, to honor his memory with a small memorial service. On behalf of Joe’s friends, I would like to extend my sympathies to Joe’s family. Joe leaves behind treasured siblings, nieces and nephews and more, and I would just like to say that my heart goes out to all of you. Joe talked about his family with me often, and I know that he treasured them greatly (I remember him keeping photos of his niece and nephew on his desk at the planetarium) and I cannot imagine their feelings of loss. As a friend of Joe’s, who is far away from Montana and far away from Joe’s family, I just want to say I’m very sorry.
~Lauren
The official website for Stellafane, www.steallafane.org, published an announcement about the memorial service held for Joe on the Stellafane grounds.
(click for larger)
Quote:
” Family & Friends honor
Joseph LaVigne at Stellafane[2008-May-29] On Sunday May 25, 2008, the Springfield Telescope Makers hosted a memorial service for amateur telescope maker Joseph LaVigne, who passed away unexpectedly at the age of 44. Before family and friends, Joe’s request was honored as his ashes were spread on Stellafane’s Observing Field. As a teen and young adult, Joe was a regular attendee at the Annual Convention and displayed his homemade reflector. He moved to Montana where he pursued astrophotography from his Weasel Creek Observatory. He authored the chapter “Imaging the Moon with an Astro-Video Camera” in Peter Wlasuk’s “Observing the Moon, A Practical Guide”, one of Patrick Moore’s Practical Astronomy Series.”
Special thanks to Linda, a friend of mine and a friend of Joe’s, for sending this in.
I wanted to say “THANK YOU” to everyone who attended Joe’s memorial service, and those who helped make it possible. You know who you are. 
Carol S. gave me the powerpoint presentation that we used for the memorial. I am going to post it online here “real soon now”. 
The second guestbook at the news-press is now defunct, you had to pay money to keep it going and there was only one entry last I checked, so I copy/pasted it into the guestbook that is associated with this site (see the right-hand sidebar).
I hope everyone is doing well.
~Lauren
TODAY IS JOE’S MEMORIAL SERVICE. 
Carol & I hope to see you all there.
The Memorial Service for Joe will be;
Thursday, February 28th at 8:00pm at the Planetarium.
Calusa Nature Center & Planetarium
3450 Ortiz Ave, Fort Myers, FL
..:Map::..
or: alternate link for map: tinyurl.com/2lee8g
A special Thank You goes out to Carole Holmberg and Sanders Lewallen of the Calusa Nature Center for offering the facility to us for this service. I cannot thank them enough for that generous gesture.
AFTER the memorial service, we will continue to grow this site. We have plans for posting photos, a scrapbook, archives of his astronomy web pages, a powerpoint show, links for having photo prints made and more. So be sure to come back again in the future – don’t forget about the site, never forget about Joe.
Please don’t forget to sign Joe’s guestbook.
It’s on the right-hand sidebar. —>
Reminder: Joe’s Memorial Service is this Thursday. ..::More Info::..
The obituary we did for Joe will run in the Fort Myers News Press on Sunday and Monday (Feb. 24th & 25th, 2008).
Here is a photo of it in Sunday’s paper:
It’s published on the News-Press website as well, complete with a guestbook. So, as friends of Joe, we’ll have to keep an eye out to see who signs that guest book in addition to the guestbook on this site (which is on the right-hand sidebar).
Screenshot:
Link: www.legacy.com/News-Press/Obituaries.asp?Page=…
~Lauren
The obituary that I wanted to place for Joe was more than I could afford to pay. So a short one will run in the paper. But here is what I would have liked to have said [I'm putting it here for the sake of posterity]-
Born September 9th, 1963, Joe Lavigne was an avid astronomer and telescope maker. He lived in southwest Florida for many years, during which time he worked at the Calusa Nature Center & Planetarium in Fort Myers. Joe moved to Broadwater County Montana and died a resident of Townsend, Montana on December 13th, 2007. He leaves behind his wife, Kim Lavigne, and his step-sons Victor and Chris.
A Memorial Service will be held for Joe on Thursday, February 28th, 2008 at the Calusa Nature Center in the Planetarium at 8:00pm. All of Joe’s friends and colleagues are invited to attend. Please visit his memorial website, www.JoeLavigne.net
This is the photo that I used for the obituary:
Also, for information on the memorial service, CLICK HERE.
~Lauren
I’ve been scanning in photos of Joe from my stash of film prints. It’s a slow process because I can only do a few at a time (because of emotions). We’ll use some during the memorial service, and I will post a bunch here as well.
~Lauren
Carol & I have set a date for the Memorial Service.
The Memorial Service for Joe will be;
Thursday, February 28th at 8:00pm at the Planetarium.
Calusa Nature Center & Planetarium
3450 Ortiz Ave, Fort Myers, FL
..:Map::..
or: alternate link for map: tinyurl.com/2lee8g
Please spread the word. I hope you will attend.
A special Thank You goes out to Carole Holmberg and Sanders Lewallen of the Calusa Nature Center for offering the facility to us. I cannot thank them enough for that generous gesture.
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