Joseph Eldridge Epperson

Joseph Eldridge Epperson, aged 80, of Berea, OH died at Southwest General Hospital on June 28, 2025.

He was born February 9,1945 in Camden, New Jersey and moved to Berea with his family in 1946. He graduated from Berea High School in 1963. He earned his BA from Ohio University in 1995 and an MBA from Cal State Dominguez Hills in 2000.

Before entering the US Army, Joe worked at WEWS and WVIZ. He served in the Army from 1966-1969 including a two-year tour of duty at the AFSOUTH NATO Headquarters in Naples, Italy. Upon returning to Ohio in 1969, he followed his father into the television industry and worked for local TV station WUAB. He next worked at TPC, a production company, in Pittsburgh, PA. Wishing to expand his horizons, in 1975 he and his wife moved to Los Angeles, the epicenter of the television industry. He quickly found work at KTTV-Metromedia and was a camera operator on All in the Family and The Jeffersons. In 1981, he decided to embark on what became a very successful freelance career that took him around the world. His credits during the next 20 years are too numerous to mention but include: All in the Family, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Big Bird in China, the Academy Awards, Full House and Bosom Buddies.  Joe also worked on Camelot with Richard Harris and concerts with the Rolling Stones, Gloria Estefan and Whitney Houston (in South Africa) and the Michael Jackson concert in Madison Square Gardens on September 10, 2001. In 1995, Joe, a founding member of the SOC, was the recipient of The Society of Camera Operator’s Camera Operator- Video Lifetime Achievement Award.

After retiring from “the industry” in 2005, he returned to Berea. He kept active by volunteering with the Berea Historical Society and the New York Central System Historical Society. He also worked for the Cleveland Indians Tribe TV.

Joe will be remembered for his sense of whimsy, his lifelong love of trains, photography, woodworking, and Sherlock Holmes and his early interest in computers. He was devoted to his family, who returned this devotion in equal measure.

He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Patricia Hood Epperson, daughters Amanda Epperson and Rebecca (Dewyatt) Stanfield; grandchildren Jaquelyn (Matt) and Kirsten Cleavelin; and Isabella and Joseph Stanfield; and nephew Scott Eldridge Walker. He was predeceased by his parents, Joseph Bolen Epperson and Bennie Eldridge Epperson and his sister Phyllis Walker.

Family and friends are invited to attend a Celebration of Life at Heritage Congregational Church on Saturday, July 12, 2025 11:00 A.M to 12:00 A.M  at 485 West Street, Berea ,Ohio 44017 .

In lieu of flowers please send donations to the American Diabetes Association, www.diabetes.org.

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