Secaucus, N.J. — Joseph Cory, chairman and former CEO of the national delivery service that carries his name, died on April 28. He was 76.
Joe, son of founder Joseph Cory, took the helm of Cory 1st Choice Home Delivery following his dad’s death in 1977. Under his watch, the New Jersey-based business expanded into new markets and services, and today provides warehousing, distribution, logistics management and white-glove delivery services for national, regional and local CE, appliance and furniture retailers, including Best Buy, Rooms To Go and Ashley Furniture.
In a statement, the company said Cory built the business over five decades through dignity and respect. “The close bonds he formed with his Cory team members and long-term clients transcended the business and created a family that stretched beyond the boundaries of traditional kin,” the statement read. “We will all miss you, Joe.”
Cory is survived by his wife Nada; his sons Joe Jr. and Patrick; his daughters Virginia Grace, Jennifer and Martina; his sister Grace; and their respective families, which number 14 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
The company believes that in lieu of flowers, Cory would have preferred donations be made to the City of Hope, a comprehensive cancer care and research center in Southern California that had honored him with its Spirit of Life award for his support.
Cory’s father, an immigrant from Calabria, Italy, started the business in 1934 by offering household moving and odd-job services out of a lone Chevy van. Today the company maintains a fleet of 500 trucks and operates 19 facilities stretching from Massachusetts to Colorado and as far south as Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
