ST. GEORGE — L. Joseph “Joe” Holub Jr., of St. George, Maine, died peacefully surrounded by his family on Jan. 26, 2024, after a brief battle with cancer.  

Joe was born on April 30, 1945, in Queens, New York, to Lewis J. Holub and Jeanne Whelan Holub. 

A fascination with automobiles and airplanes began when Joe was just a few years old and never waned. Following in the footsteps of his father, who worked as a captain for Eastern Air Lines, Joe began flying lessons at 15 and completed his first solo flight at the age of 16 at Spring Valley Airport in New York. A graduate of Pascack Valley Regional High School in Hillsdale, New Jersey, and Perkiomen School in Pennsburg, Pennsylvania, Joe went on to study engineering at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, where he was a member of the Kappa Sigma fraternity.

In January 1968, Joe was hired by Eastern Air Lines. Upon completing ground and flight school for the Lockheed L-188 Electra, Joe reported to his assigned base in New York City in 1968.

He married the love of his life, Donna Cherniak, on March 1, 1968. In 1976, he and Donna settled in Newtown, Connecticut, where they lived for 31 years, raising their two children.

While at Eastern, Joe was selected for the team that brought the A-300 to the U.S. market, working from 1977 through 1979 at the Airbus headquarters in Toulouse, France, to write training and flight manuals for the airline. Later, Joe joined Eastern’s training department and became an FAA designee. He worked as a flight instructor, check pilot, and check captain on the B-727, and as a flight instructor and check pilot on the A-300.

Following Eastern’s demise in 1989, Joe spent a year at USAir before joining United Airlines in 1991. While at United, Joe flew Boeing aircraft to Europe, South America, and Asia. Four days before his 60th birthday and mandatory retirement, Joe flew flight 905 – with his family on board – from London Heathrow to John F. Kennedy International Airport on April 26, 2005, landing the B-777 amidst clapping and a water salute by the New York Port Authority Fire Department.

When he wasn’t flying, Joe enjoyed bicycling, hiking, taking his family on travel adventures through the U.S., collecting cars, and building his first workshop to cater to a growing interest in woodworking.

In 2005, he and Donna moved to St. George, Maine, where they built their retirement home and a large-scale workshop. A self-taught woodworker, Joe specialized in custom cabinetry and furniture that featured exotic woods. He honed his skills by attending classes at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship in Rockport. He shared his skills and enthusiasm with family and friends, taking on commissioned projects, creating custom gifts, and teaching his grandchildren about wood species and the intricacies of fine woodworking.

At the Owls Head Transportation Museum, where he was a volunteer for more than 10 years, Joe helped lead a team of fellow volunteers in the repair, restoration, and rebuilding of two World War I-era aircraft. In addition, Joe served as chair of the building committee for the new Jackson Memorial Library and built custom pieces for the library’s annual fundraising auction, which raised money each year for more than 10 years. Joe also built the library’s circulation desk and restored the wood top of the large furniture case at Bleecker & Greer in Rockport.

Joe is survived by his wife of 55 years, Donna Cherniak Holub; daughter Kathryn Ashleigh Holub and her husband Eddie Waters of Camden; son L. Joseph Holub III and his wife Stacey Menegay Holub of Warren; sisters Mary H. Peacon and Elizabeth Holub and her husband David Rinkle of Columbia Falls; and grandchildren Veronica Waters, Daphne Waters, Simone Waters, Lewis J. “L.J.” Holub IV, and Autumn Holub; and niece Abigail Holubrinkle.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Joe’s name to the Owls Head Transportation Museum; or the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, of which Joe was a founding member.