ISLAND ICONS: Joe & Emily Talbert by LOUISA GALBO, Coronado Historical Association Volunteer
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oe Talbert was born and raised in Coronado to a Navy family and embodied the true Coronado spirit. His father, Joe Talbert Sr. (“Papa Joe”), was a member of the U.S. Naval Academy class of 1920. Papa Joe’s Navy career took the family to Washington, D.C., Panama, and France, but they always returned home to Coronado. Joe Jr. graduated from Coronado High School in 1950 and followed his father’s footsteps by becoming a proud graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy in 1956. Emily Haugen Talbert was born and raised in Michigan. She came from a family of famous civil engineers that included her great-great-grandfather, John A. Roebling, the architect behind the renowned Brooklyn Bridge construction, which was, at its opening in 1883, the longest suspension bridge in the world. Emily attended Connecticut College for Women in New London, Connecticut. Emily met Lt. Joe Talbert Jr. USN in her senior year. The first time Joe brought Emily to his hometown, Coronado, was in July 1962 to introduce his fiancée to his family, high school friends, and Navy buddies. What most impressed Emily, on her first visit and in the subsequent years of living here, was the charming small-town feel and the warm and welcoming camaraderie of the people. After getting married in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in December 1962, Joe and Emily started their life together in Virginia Beach, Virginia, where their first child, Jay, was born. Subsequently, two more sons, Stephen and Peter, joined
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