Funeral services have been set for Joe Hand Sr., the famed boxing promoter and closed circuit TV pioneer.
Hand died on Aug. 1. He was 87.
Family and friends are invited to greet Hand’s family on Tuesday, Aug. 13, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at St. Bede the Venerable Church, 1071 Holland Road, Holland. A funeral Mass will follow at 1 p.m. Interment will be private to the family.
In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting donations be made in Hand’s name to his favorite charities, Joe Hand Boxing Gym, 213 W. Street Road, Feasterville, PA 19053, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that offers programs to Parkinson’s disease patients, special needs children, autistic adults and breast cancer survivors, or online at www.joehandgym.com/giving-back or the Survivors Fund of Philadelphia FOP Lodge #5, 11630 Caroline Road, Philadelphia, PA 19154 or online at www.fop5.org.
The service will be livestreamed through Hand’s obituary page on the Fluehr website. Keep an eye on the Joe Hand Promotions website on Tuesday morning for the link.
Hand was raised in Lawncrest and attended St. William Grammar School and North Catholic High School. In June 1957, he met the love of his life, the late Margaret Hand who passed away in June 2023.
Hand joined the Philadelphia Police Department in 1959, serving for 18 years before retiring. He was close to Frank L. Rizzo, the former police commissioner and mayor.
While a cop, in the 1960s, he borrowed money from the Police and Fire Federal Credit Union to become a shareholder in Cloverlay, the corporation that backed boxer Joe Frazier.
Frazier would go on to win the heavyweight championship and then defeated Muhammad Ali in the “Fight of the Century” in March 1971. Being part of Frazier’s team led Hand to form his own sports promotions company – Joe Hand Promotions Inc. – later that same year.
Today, Joe Hand Promotions is distribution partners with UFC, WWE, PBC, Top Rank, Sela, AEW, ESPN+, Netflix, DAZN, Barstool Sports and DIRECTV and has become the largest distributor of live out-of-home sports and entertainment for bars, restaurants, casinos and theaters.
Hand received numerous awards and recognition for his work, including inductions to the Pennsylvania Golden Gloves Hall of Fame, the Pennsylvania Boxing Hall of Fame, the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame, the Philly All Star Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame and the Atlantic City Boxing Hall of Fame. He was named WBA Closed Circuit TV Promoter of the Year and Man of the Year by the Ring One Veteran Boxers Association, and he received the Wanamaker Award from the Philadelphia Sports Congress for Community Service. He served on the advisory board of National Penn Bank and Northeast Catholic High School Alumni Association. He was also inducted into the Northeast Catholic High School Alumni Hall of Fame.
The Joe Hand Promotions headquarters in Feasterville also includes the Joe Hand Wellness Center and the Joe Hand Boxing Gym.
Hand was predeceased by his wife of 66 years, Margaret Mary Hand (Joyce), and a daughter, Elizabeth Ann Voss; and survived by his son, Joseph P. Hand III and his wife Linda; daughter, Margaret Cicalese and husband Vincent; and sister, Patricia A. Hand and companion Kathleen Greger; grandchildren, Joseph Hand IV and his wife Stephanie, Peter Hand, Vincent Cicalese and partner Ashley, Elizabeth Beck and husband Peter; seven great-grandchildren, Joseph V, John James, Vincent, Peyton, Graham, Nathan and Margo; nephew, Jason Joyce and his wife Ivette; and grandnephew, Jason L. Joyce. ••
