Joseph F Gonterwitz

He was born at St. John’s Hospital in Leavenworth, Kansas on 12 August 1943 to Francis Philip “Frank” Gontarewitz and Dorothy Elizabeth Bott.

Joe graduated in June 1961 from the Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio which was the only papal seminary in the western hemisphere. He received a B.A. in French, Magna Cum Laude, (with Minors in English and Secondary Education) from St. Mary of the Plains College in Dodge City, Kansas in 1965. After graduation, he taught English and French at Manhattan High School in Manhattan, Kansas. He then enlisted in the US Air Force in November 1966 and became a Second Lieutenant, Reserve, on 17 March 1967 and served in the Office of Special Investigations (OSI).

He was selected to attend Vietnamese language training at the Defense Language Institute / West Coast Branch in Monterey, California, which he attended from November 1968 until November 1969. He was then transferred to Tan Son Nhut Air Base in Saigon, South Vietnam in December 1969.

Joe was in South Vietnam from December 1969 until July 1971. He was the Project Officer for the Protective Services Training Program in Saigon, South Vietnam in 1970 where he directed training in protective services for the protective details of high government South Vietnamese officials. In 1971, he was Project Officer, Special Investigations Training Program, in Saigon, South Vietnam, where he directed training in criminal and counterintelligence investigations for South Vietnamese Air Force officers. While in South Vietnam, Joe was commissioned as a First Lieutenant, Regular Service, on 17 March 1970.

Joe then served as Chief of Liaison & Protocol for the USAF Office of Special Investigations in Washington, D.C. from July 1971 until September 1978, at which time he attended George Washington University in Washington, D.C. for a Master of Arts in International Affairs. After graduating with his Master Degree in May 1979, he then attended the Foreign Service Institute, U.S. Department of State, in Roslyn, Virginia, for intensive language training in Spanish before his transfer to Madrid, Spain in July 1979.

In Madrid, Spain, he was Chief of Counterintelligence, AFOSI, from July 1979 to July 1981 where he worked with Spanish officials to secure American and Spanish interests from terror attacks perpetrated primarily by ETA and GRAPO, two Spanish terrorist groups.

In July 1981, he attended Air Command & Staff College, Air University, Maxwell AFB, in Montgomery, Alabama until 1982. He then was an instructor of graduate level Regional Studies from 1982 to 1984. As a faculty member, he was Chief of the Unconventional Warfare Section, Directorate of Curriculum; as well as Chief of American, European, and Soviet Studies Branch, Directorate of Curriculum.

In 1984, he transferred back to USAFOSI as Regional Chief of Air Force Counterintelligence for a five-state area until his retirement as a Major on 1 April 1988. He earned over two dozen US and foreign military decorations, including the Bronze Star, the Meritorious Service Medal with 1 Device, the US Air Force Commendation Medal with 1 Device, the Joint Service Commendation Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal with 5 Devices, and the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Device.

After his retirement from the US Air Force, Joe then was employed as a Security Administrator by Texas Instruments (TI) in Lewisville, Texas, beginning in June 1988. He was responsible for the security of classified contracts between TI and the US Government and for the security clearance and access of personnel associated with those contracts. When TI sold their Missile Division to Raytheon in 1996, Joe continued in the same capacity with Raytheon for the same contracts. He retired from Raytheon on 31 December 2008.

Joe was an avid gardener and enjoyed reading and attending sporting events. He is survived by his wife of 49 years, the former Jeanne Ann Engle, of the home. They married on 6 April 1974 at St. Dominic Catholic Church in Washington, D.C. He is also survived by their son, Michael Joseph Gonterwitz, and Michael’s fiancé, Amy Still, both of Keller, Texas

Private services will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, memorials to the American Heart Association are suggested by the family.