Deacon Joe Cruz

Deacon Joe Cruz was assigned to St. Thomas May 26, 2018.  Although  fairly new to the parish, he was ordained a Deacon June 2012. He is married to college sweetheart Anna-Marie and has two children: Maria-Alicia age 35 and Joe III age 31. Deacon Joe's wife and family are all native Tucsonans and proud to call themselves “Wildcats” since he, his wife and daughter all graduated from the U of A.  He and his wife have four grandchildren. 

Joe's ministry has encompassed a lot of different paths, but the most prevalent has been youth ministry, where he served many years as a youth minister, then Youth Director at his former parish St. Elizabeth Ann Seton.  In fact, as he reflects back to when he moved back to Tucson in 1990, he was active in Boy Scouts for at least 10 years where his son became an Eagle Scout.  He very much enjoys working with youth and helping them accomplish their life dreams.

Professionally, Deacon Joe is a practicing CPA with his office located in “Barrio Viejo” or the older part of downtown Tucson – the building has been in his family since the early 1920’s when his grandmother, father and three uncles immigrated to the US as a result of the persecution of Catholics in Mexico. Joe's professional background includes experience with the IRS as an agent, manager and executive. Joe finds that being a Deacon has only enhanced his practice because integrity and ethics is the cornerstone of his profession; in essence his faith and day-to-day work go hand in hand!

Deacon Joe enjoys a number of hobbies, but his most satisfying and perhaps demanding is the building of “hot rods.”  When building hot rods many times he encounters problems that need to be solved, not unlike life, and often prayer and perseverance allows him to finish a task with the results very visible. Again, faith and building of hot rods go together well because there is a lot of “quiet time and contemplation.”  And, upon finishing a hot rod, Joe sees the fruits of his labor and the “work of art” that can only be attributable to the gifts he puts to use which come directly from God. 

Joe is also a scuba diver. He likes to personally handle remodeling projects at home or office, when time permits, and enjoys the companionship of the family Jack Russell - Scoobert…who is affectionately referred to as “Mr. Scoobert” - because of his beard and soon-to be-14 years old.