Joe Juraszek

Joe Juraszek Obituary

Joseph Donald Juraszek SR passed away peacefully on April 16th, 2025 from complications due to Parkinson’s Disease. Joe was born in Chicago, Illinois on June 8th, 1958. Growing up on the south side of Chicago, dreams rarely extended beyond high school. Early in Joe’s life, he learned about athletic scholarships and what they could mean for him. This quickly became Joe’s dream—a vehicle to a betterlife he hadn’t even known existed. Until then, no one in Joe’s family had graduated high school, let alonecollege. During high school, he started lifting weights and began researching how the professionals did it. After his junior year, he started gaining interest from different college football programs. While Joe’s friends and family wanted him to stay close to Chicago, his desire to work with Coach Pete Martinelli led him to Albuquerque to play football for the University of New Mexico. 

Coach Martinelli’s organized strength and conditioning program was one of the few in existence in the1970s. Pete was one of the founding fathers of the NSCA (National Strength and Conditioning Association), and Joe felt blessed to have had Coach Martinelli as a coach, mentor, and friend. Upon completing his undergraduate degree in 1976, Joe followed Coach Martinelli to the University of Oklahoma (OU) in 1981 to work with him as a graduate assistant. Joe remained a GA until 1983, when hereceived his master’s degree and was named Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach at Oklahoma, aposition he held from 1983 to 1986. During that time, they went on to win the 1985 National Championship. In 1987, Joe received the Head Strength and Conditioning position at Texas Tech University (TTU), where he coached under Spike Dykes, whom he revered from his time at New Mexico. He remained in that position until 1993, when he returned to the University of Oklahoma to serve as HeadStrength and Conditioning Coach. Joe continued in Norman, coaching under Gary Gibbs, Howard Schnellenberger, and John Blake for three more years. 

In 1997, shortly after Super Bowl glory, Joe decided to join Barry Switzer’s staff and became the HeadStrength and Conditioning Coach of the Dallas Cowboys. Joe would go on to remain in that position forthe next 13 years, enduring six different head coaches: Barry Switzer, Chan Gailey, Dave Campo, Bill Parcells, Wade Phillips, and Jason Garrett. Joe remained an avid Dallas Cowboys fan until the last day ofhis life. 

Joe married Camille Benso of Norman, Oklahoma, in 1988 and became the father of two children: Nikki Jo Juraszek and Joseph (JD) Juraszek, Jr. Joe’s children were the loves of his life. He spent the last three years in Frisco, Texas, on hospice care. The irony of Joe’s life is that the body he spent so much time taking care of eventually failed him. 

Joe was preceded in death by his parents, Mary Lou Drummond Hohmann and Joseph C. Juraszek, Jr.; hisbeloved grandparents, Donald F. and Christine Drummond; and his brother Leroy Woods, Jr. Joe is survived by his brother Jim Juraszek of Illinois, his daughter Nikki Jo Juraszek of California, and his son J.D. Juraszek of Dallas, Texas. Joe was an extraordinary man who left behind a legacy of friendships and admiration from so many with whom he served, mentored, and coached throughout his career in college football and the NFL. He will bedearly missed by many. Service details will be provided in the coming weeks.

“May the wind always be at your back and the sun upon your face. And may the winds of destinycarry you aloft to dance with the stars.”