Joe Guiffre needed a job. Recently married and barely making ends meet after graduating from Georgetown University in 1954, he decided to talk to his father about entering the family business — the Guiffre Distributing Company that was founded by his grandfather in 1933.
“He said, ‘I have a route for a driver salesman and it’s the worst route we have in the company, but it pays about $80 a week,’ ” said Guiffre, 92, who retired from the beer distributing business on North Henry Street in Alexandria in 1993. “That’s just the way it was done back then. I had worked in the warehouse in the summers, loading and unloading box cars, cleaning toilets, sweeping floors — the lowest of the low — and I made the progression to driver salesman which was much higher pay.”
Guiffre, who received the recognition of a papal honor Sept. 28 for his lifetime of service to the diocese, took over the business after his father’s unexpected death in 1963. Known in the early days for distributing Senate and Budweiser beer, the Brooklyn native was named as a “Living Legend of Alexandria” in 2013 by the non-profit organization of the same name for his devotion “to the business, civic and religious life of his community.”
“Because of my faith, I just dealt with people the way I’d want to be treated if I were working for somebody else,” said Giuffre. “I always did what I thought was fair for the employee according to Catholic tradition. It was Pope Leo XIII who spoke up on that issue. We went through some rough times and a couple of strikes, but eventually our employees decided that they would be treated fairly and we went from a union to a non-union shop because they were treated fairly.”
Guiffre doesn’t like to talk about the honors. “I really didn’t want it because I want to get my honors in heaven,” he said of the papal honor. “The major reason I accepted it was to give an example to others.”
“In the eyes of the world, Joe Guiffre is a businessman whose success has been extraordinary, but to those who know him, Joe is first and foremost a man of faith,” said Father Thomas P. Ferguson, pastor of Good Shepherd Church in Alexandria. “Joe deeply loves the Catholic Church. His first love is for God and his next love is for his family. He was a devoted husband for more than 70 years to his dear wife Ann who died this year, and he is equally devoted to his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.”
Throughout their marriage, the Giuffres were committed to the church. They were the first couple married at St. Anthony of Padua Church in Falls Church in 1954. Because of several moves, they were also parishioners at St. James Church in Falls Church, Blessed Sacrament and Good Shepherd churches in Alexandria as well as the Basilica of St. Mary.
Ann became Catholic before their marriage, but Joseph laughs when remembering the reception he received from her Baptist grandmother in Georgia. “She thought Catholics had tails and were part of the devil’s church, so it took a while to get on good footing with her down there. But I made up my mind and got her on my side before it was over and we went on to have a great relationship.”
Next to his marriage that produced four children, Giuffre counts being an extraordinary minister of the Eucharist as the greatest privilege of his life. “That was the most sacred thing for me,” he said. “Later I discovered the 2 o’clock nocturnal adoration hour, which is a very mystical time. If you haven’t done it, it’s something you want to do.”
Giuffre wants married couples to remember that, “Marriage is sacramental in nature and you must stay married through thick and thin. It’s essential for our church to encourage marriage,” he said.
His advice is to always attend Mass as a couple.“I miss my wife most at Mass time,” said Guiffre. “Make sure you go to Mass together and hold hands during Mass. I can’t think of a more marvelous thing to do.”
