Joe Rooney Bio

Fiscal conservative and Independent Republican Congressional candidate Joe Rooney, A Taxpayer Like Us, is a retired Marine Fighter Pilot and is now a Captain with Delta Airlines. He is one of us, who understands our families need more jobs and a better future. Joe and his family now live in the same home Joe grew up in.

Joe Rooney didn’t just learn about the value of serving his country, he lives it everyday. A true leader, Joe lives by the axiom of paying it forward – which is why serving his country in the Marines for 23 years was never a question. Running for Congress is just the next step for Joe in his continuing efforts to serve his neighbors. Active in his community, Joe has served on school boards, performed charity work, served as a community volunteer, scout leader and youth sports coach.

Joe believes the only way to honor the sacrifices made by our parents is to play an active role in ensuring we hand off a better America to our children.

After 23 years of honorable service in the United States Marine Corps (USMC) flying both the F4S Phantom and the F18 Hornet, Joe retired from the Reserves in 2003 as a Lieutenant Colonel. It was in 1980 that Joe was commissioned as a Lieutenant of Marines. Following Marine Corps training at Quantico, Joe earned his Navy Wings at the Naval Air Station in Meridian, MS where he met his wife Beth, a then Navy Lieutenant, when they were both training to land on the aircraft carrier USS Constellation.

Joe is very proud of his wife Beth who was one of the Navy’s first female jet pilots, received her Masters Degree in Aerospace Engineering from the Naval Post Graduate School and was only the second woman to graduate from the prestigious US Navy Test Pilot School. Beth was also a candidate for the NASA astronaut program before receiving her greatest promotion, becoming the mother of five wonderful children. Beth retired from the Navy Reserves as a Commander USNR.

Joe and Beth are proud and loving parents who are passing on to their children the pride of serving their country. Their eldest is a US Naval Academy 2011 graduate and she now serves aboard the USS Klakring based in Jacksonville, FL. They have a son who is at the US Air Force Academy, another who just graduated Bishop McDevitt HS, a daughter attending Bishop McDevitt and the youngest attends Good Shepard Regional School.

Joe Rooney’s proud family history of military service begins with his two grandfathers who fought in WWI, of which his maternal grandfather joined the Army shortly after emigrating from Ireland. Joe’s father served during the Korean War, his brother Jack was a Naval Aviator, and his brother Tom proudly served as an Abington Township Police Officer and now serves as inspector for the ATF.

Born in Germantown Hospital and raised in Ardsley, Joe graduated with honors from Bishop McDevitt High School and earned an NROTC scholarship to Cornell University from where he graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. Joe Rooney is a taxpayer like us, and a great guy! Let’s send him to Congress!