Joseph Ames Best (1944 - 2002)

Born 19 Jan 1944 in Boston, Massachusetts, United States

Ancestors

Died 25 Jun 2002 at age 58 in Weymouth, Massachusetts, United States

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Biography

Joseph was born in 1944, the eldest of the four sons of Robert Best and Catherine Miller.

Baby Joseph

Joe grew up in the family home on Turner Road in Scituate, Massachusetts, a seaside community south of Boston.

The Best Home in Scituate

Joe's father was a lobster fisherman. At first Joe had other ideas for an occupation. In 1965 he enlisted in the U.S. Army and worked as a medical records clerk in Panama. The problem was he couldn't tolerate being confined to an office with heavily structured hours. In the 1970s Joe saw lobster fishing as the type of life that he enjoyed. It's not just an occupation. It's a lifestyle. He also pursued his passion for photography with some commercial success. Joe never married. In 2002 a family friend in Owen Sound called to give me the bad news that Joe had died.

Sources

• 1950 United States Federal Census, Shore Acres, Sand Hills, Plymouth, Massachusetts, Robert Best 41, Lobster Fishing, Catherine Best 36, wife, Joseph Best 6, son, Douglas Best 3, son, Stephen Best 2, son, David Best, son, born August previous year
• Massachusetts Death Index, 1970-2003, Joseph Ames Best, birth date 19 Jan 1944, death date 25 June 2002 Weymouth
• U.S. Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014, Joseph A. Best birth 19 Jan 1944, death 25 June 2002, last residence Scituate, Massachusetts
• U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS, Death File, 1850-2010, JOSEPH BEST, Born 19 Jan 1944, death 25 June 2002, ARMY Enlistment 1 Apr 1965, Release 24 Mar 1967
• U.S. Veterans Gravesites,ca. 1775-2006, JOSEPH A. BEST, Birth 19 Jan 1944, Death 25 Jun 2002, sp4 US Army Vietnam, Union Cemetery, Scituate, MA
• U.S. Public Records Index, 1950-1993
• Address book, Frances Prichard (Joe's Great Aunt) includes birth dates of the 4 Best children.
• Local newspaper article on the photography of Joe Best circa 1982
• Letters from Joe's mother to my parents.

Memories of Joe

I was too young and perhaps too interested in the place I was visiting to remember Joe Best when he was a chubby child but several of Dad's mid-1950s photos reveal the truth. The Best family pantry was like a walk-in closet of sweet treats and with Aunt Catherine's amazing abilities to cook comfort food two out of her four sons had early weight problems. Instead, my first memories of Joe were of a tall, lean teenager, not at all approachable but interesting, nevertheless.

Teenage Joe Best

I kept my distance and watched. He had the ability to make others laugh with comments tossed in the air and he had already left the room when the chuckling began.

When our great Aunt Frances died in 1969 she left each cousin several thousand dollars. I spent mine on a three-month knapsack tour of Europe. Steve Best bought a flashy car. Doug Best I was told spent his here and there with no real purpose but also gave some away. Joe Best spent the total amount on expensive photography equipment. He worked as a lobster fisherman outdoors and moonlighted as a freelance photographer outdoors. "Being inside offends me," he said. When lobstering was fading he began selling more photographs. He produced a beautiful 1981 Calendar shot of a winter moon rising over Old Scituate Lighthouse. But a newspaper photograph of him showed he had become obese, health wise always a concern. I was also interested in photography. Joe and I exchanged letters on the subject. Aunt Catherine died suddenly in 1982 and when Uncle Bob became ill, Joe looked after him. After his father died we had no further contact with Joe. In 2002 Sylvia Moss (a family friend) called to tell me Joe Best had died at his brother Steve's home of a massive heart attack.

Lobstering and the Seafood Life

Uncle Bob caught an enormous swordfish that when I spotted it in the kitchen I squealed. When cooked it was amazingly good. Lobsters were another matter. My father was upset. As a guest in the home of a family that earns their living by fishing lobsters, a delicacy to most of the world, my child refuses to eat said lobster. Aunt Catherine pushed away the controversy by serving me something else which I gobbled. Fishing Lobsters was another matter. I happily watched Uncle Bob go out to sea with his traps, which when not in use were stacked beside the house. I even liked the traps enough to get excited when they were some place other than Scituate. Look. Maine has lobster traps. Prince Edward Island has those same wooden traps. Joe continued in his father's occupation but the industry was changing. The supply of this ocean dweller began to dwindle.

1976 letter from Aunt Catherine: Joe is really catching lobsters this week. He caught forty yesterday and thirty day before and he hopes it will continue a while.

1981 letter from Aunt Catherine: Joe is lobstering with Shawn McCarthy. He had a boat built in Maine this winter. They have 250 pots. Right now it is slow but will pick up after the shedding season.

Always hope that there will be more. Even eating seafood not caught by the Best family is what we did. On one of my adult visits in the 1970s my father, Aunt Catherine, Joe and I ate at a dock-front seafood restaurant which wasn't just memorable for their yummy clams but for the obstacle course created by hopeful pelicans.