A message from Tim Webber…
On May 19, 2002, my very good friend, Joe, died Sunday after the Preakness.
Joe loved horse racing; in fact, a racehorse was named after him. He was my best friend in high school, and years later, while there were a few separations due to moves and life, we remained best friends until the day he passed. As an Atholton High School junior, he won the state high school golf championship, known as the Junior Boys’ Amateur, in 1981. That year, he also captured the Middle Atlantic PGA Junior Golf Championship. He was a graduate of Marshall University in Huntington, W.Va., where he played on the golf team. In 1978 Golf Magazine ranked him No. 4 in the country in its category of players age 13 and younger. He won the state amateur tournament, the Men’s Amateur, in 1987 and qualified for the U.S. Amateur in Jupiter, Fla., that year.
I surrendered and have been in recovery for 18 years now.
Joey was a man full of life and love for others. He was a big part of my recovery – 18 months after his death in 2002 I embraced recovery on November 8th, 2003. I named one of my sober homes after him in 2009 and we also had a golf tournament for five years in his honor. The “We Say Nope to Dope Walk” was always on Preakness Saturday to honor Joey (we changed the date for logistical reasons to October) and he is still always a big part of the walk. While I don’t own the sober home anymore, I still hear all the time in court or at a local meeting, “I live in the Joey V House”. This was a way to keep my friend’s name alive, and I would have never dreamed it would still be going 18 years later. Whenever I hear it said, I pull them aside and say, “let me tell you about my friend Joey.”
To all of you who hear “I live in the Joey V. House,” well, this was the man, the myth, and the legend!
A famous Joey V Saying: “How ya liking me now.”
