Joe Finneman

Joe Finneman is the elderly owner of Finneman's Market in Odyssey and the great-uncle of Connie Kendall. He is a gruff, humble man who insists he is too old to change his ways, though Connie's gentle persistence often proves him wrong. Joe is a veteran of the Second World War. He was in Honolulu on December 7, 1941, where his best friend, a Japanese American translator named Sam Saburo, tried in vain to warn of the coming attack on Pearl Harbor. Later, badly wounded in the jungles of New Guinea, he rescued a group of hidden children and led them to safety. He earned a Purple Heart and a Medal of Bravery for it, yet refused them both. He shies away from honors and painful memories, but his loyalty to family and old friends runs deep.