Joseph M. Slivar; WWII Veteran, Mechanic

Joseph Michael Slivar, a World War II veteran and retired mechanic, died Wednesday in a Ventura hospital following a brief illness. He was 82.

He was born Oct. 23, 1918, in Media, Pa., and had been a resident of Ventura County since 1947.

During World War II, he served in the Army in the Pacific and Aleutian Islands. He received a Purple Heart.

For 35 years, he was a mechanic working at the Port Hueneme Naval Construction Battalion Center. While there, he invented several devices that are used with heavy equipment.

Slivar was a lifetime member of the Walter Chaffee Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1679. He was also a member of the Pentecostal Church of God in Ventura. His hobbies included gardening.

He is survived by his wife of 57 years, Marie; sons Robert of Ventura and John of Oakview; daughter Phyllis Kienholz of Bakersfield; brother Walt Slivar of Philadelphia; sisters Mary Armiellei of Drexel Hill, Pa.; Theresa Vannett of Boothwyn, Pa.; Ronnie Slivar of New Jersey and Rosie Slivar of Philadelphia, and seven grandchildren.

Visitation will be from noon until 8 p.m. today at the Ted Mayr Funeral Home in Ventura, which is handling the arrangements.

The funeral service is scheduled at 10 a.m. Saturday at the funeral home, with the Rev. Larry Swift of the Pentecostal Church of God officiating. Burial with military honors will follow at Ivy Lawn Memorial Park in Ventura.