Press Release
PERTH AMBOY – Joe Stafford was born in 1947 in Perth Amboy and lived in the Carson Avenue area. Joe was a graduate of the class of 1965 of Perth Amboy High School. At the age of 8, Joe took swim lessons at the YMCA but was quickly discouraged. It wasn’t until he was about 15 years old that he and a friend shared a liking for scuba diving and spent hours at the local scuba diving shop and as a result Joe had to learn to swim. He came to the Y every day after school until he felt confident and strong enough to pursue scuba diving.

Along the way, the YMCA and swimming became his life and Joe spent time at the Y even when he wasn’t scheduled to work. He would come to swim when the facility was closed on Sundays just so he could get better and better. The Y was his outlet and he took swimming very seriously!

As a lifeguard at the Y, Joe made $1.25 an hour and he lifeguarded for the City of Perth Amboy when the beaches were open. During his time at the Y, Joe became a swim instructor and taught swim lessons between 4-6pm. Swim lessons included levels such as Eel, Pike and Fish.

Once he graduated Perth Amboy High School, Joe attended a college in Philadelphia which had a small pool. During his college career, he taught a Red Cross Lifeguarding class. Joe joined the US Navy for 6 years and did 2 tours in Vietnam. He currently resides in South Central Pennsylvania.

Joe loves the Y, his passion for swimming and life guarding gave him purpose, leadership skills and was very meaningful. Joe says, “I felt like a valuable employee at the Y, and the Y was a great place to be.”

Memorabilia in photo:
•Pin
•Staff t-shirt
•Lifeguard stripes and badges
•Swim lesson cards
•Swimming and diving books
•Swim notes
•2 swimming information fold binder
•Autographed YMCA history book