Joseph Armand, III, was born February 19, 1938, in Valdese, NC, son of Joseph Armand Jr. and Sarah Verreault. He succumbed to his battle with cancer and Parkinson’s at the age of 85 at Covenant Woods in Mechanicsville, VA on August 6, 2023. He attended Davidson College, where he received his BA, then attended Union Theological Seminary and Presbyterian School of Christian Education in Richmond, VA. He was a member of Ginter Park Presbyterian Church.
Mr. Verreault was an elementary school teacher in Henrico and Hanover Counties for many years and some of his students have remained in touch through Christmas cards and occasional notes. Later, he served as a Presbyterian minister at a small church in rural VA and one in rural NC. At the end of his career, he worked for Aetna insurance company in Richmond, VA before retiring and moving to Covenant Woods.
Mr. Verreault had a wonderful sense of humor and an ability to connect with people. He will be sorely missed by his surviving family, his loving wife of 63 years Patsy, daughter Amy Athavale (Ramchandra) and grandsons Jason and Raja Athavale; his sister-in-law Dorothy Rifai and his brother-in-law Tom Hogg (Scottie).
Mr. Verreault had a love of boats, airplanes, trains, and modeling. He built countless airplane models and had a fine sense of artistry, creating paint effects to make the planes look “weathered.” He was very detail oriented. He built a wonderful model train layout with intricately carved figures like trees, houses, all very realistic looking and intricate in their details, a layout which unfortunately was destroyed in a flooded basement due to hurricane Gaston. He built a wonderful model fishing boat, to scale, with a working motor and cast crew of carved figurines taken from Wind in the Willows.
The family is grateful for the compassionate care Joe received from the staff of Covenant Woods Healthcare and Bon Secours Hospice.
Services will be on Saturday, September 2 at 2 p.m., at Ginter Park Presbyterian Church, 3601 Seminary Ave. in Richmond.