Dr. Ronald B. Joseph, M.D. F.A.C.S., husband of 32 years of St. Johns County Commissioner Krista Joseph, died peacefully on Tuesday, Jan. 20. Donations in Dr. Ronald B. Joseph’s name can be made to Our Lady Star of the Sea in Ponte Vedra Beach, where a Catholic Funeral Mass will be held at 1 p.m. Friday, Jan. 23. The public is invited to attend the services.
Dr. Joseph received the diagnosis of ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) 3 1/2 years ago, coinciding with his wife’s first day as a St. Johns County commissioner. He adjusted to his new reality with dignity and grace as his physical abilities gradually slipped away, landing him in a wheelchair and on a ventilator. Eventually, he could only communicate with his eye movements on a computer screen. And yet, his intellect, his love for his family, and his sense of humor never waned.
Dr. Joseph first suspected he had ALS when he dropped his wife’s campaign sign that he had enthusiastically waved through the summer of ’22. ALS was a particularly harsh diagnosis for the former world-class athlete who, with his sister Vivian, represented the U.S. in pairs figure skating at the 1964 Olympic Games — the first Jewish medal winners.
The sister-and-brother team won the Bronze medal, rewarded for their years of rigorous training in Chicago, where they grew up. They were known for moving quickly on the ice and performing breathtaking spins and jumps. Sixty years later, the two were inducted into the Figure Skating Hall of Fame, an honor that Joseph’s son Jeremy accepted on his behalf.
Dr. Joseph’s Olympic triumph at age 16 marked the beginning of a new phase of his life; he decided to forsake a career as a professional athlete for another demanding profession — medicine.
He became a renowned orthopedic surgeon, training at Northwestern University and the Mayo Clinic. Dr. Joseph’s 50-year medical career focused on surgery of the shoulder, hand and wrist, and he was among the first surgeons to pioneer arthroscopic shoulder repair. He practiced in Jacksonville, Crystal River, and Orlando, Florida; Aspen, Colorado; and Phoenix and Kingman, Arizona.
Dr. Joseph met Krista Keating in 1990. Together, they had a daughter, Ali (now 21), who is passionate about competitive swimming. Joseph was also an important father figure to Ms. Keating-Joseph’s three children by her first marriage, and he raised Adele, Billy and Charlie. He had the children involved in every sport, from marathon running to mountain biking to rollerblading to ice skating. The two boys earned the distinction of U.S. Navy SEAL, and Charlie was tragically killed by ISIS militants in 2016, dying a hero and being awarded the Silver Star and Navy Cross. Joseph’s only child by his first marriage, Jeremy, a Marine and former White House attorney, grew up with the blended family that now includes six grandchildren and two on the way.
Ronald Joseph not only held his family dear but was also close to God, raised in the Jewish faith and later converted to Catholicism. He was baptized after his ALS diagnosis. Determined to stand and take steps independently for the ceremony, he said afterwards, “That was the hardest thing I’ve ever done.” But he was grateful and proud, and it was a joyous day in the Josephs’ lives. Ronald (who went by “Ron”) lived a full, rich life and regarded his ALS challenges in the same goal-focused way he approached training for the Olympics. In his last interview, he said, “It’s the journey that counts, not the medals.”
