Joybubbles, born Josef Carl Engressia Jr. in 1949, was a blind genius with perfect pitch who became known for his phone phreaking activities. He eventually founded a non-profit organization to help adults rediscover the joys of childhood and legally changed his name to Joybubbles in 1991. He died in 2007, leaving a positive legacy.
Primarily known as a phone nut and founder of the non-profit support organization We Won’t Grow Up, Joybubbles is often identified as a phenomenal person with perfect pitch. Here are some background on Joybubbles life, including some of his most memorable achievements from him.
Born in Richmond Virginia on May 25, 1949, Josef Carl Engressia, Jr. entered the world without the gift of sight. While the boy lacked the ability to see, he had an uncanny ability to produce a whistle that provided the ideal pitch for interacting with telephone frequencies. During his time as a student at the University of South Florida in the late 1960s, Josef Carl Engressia earned the nickname “Whistler.” The nickname arose from his uncanny ability to produce tones that enabled him to make long-distance telephone calls that circumvented point-of-origin identification and thus made it impossible to bill calls to a switchboard. However, he was eventually caught and disciplined by the University. However, Engressia remained at the University, eventually completing his studies in the area of philosophy. After moving to Tennessee, he continued his phone phreaking activities until legal authorities charged him with damages. The publicity resulting from his activities and his arrest earned him a reputation as a blind genius.
During the 1980s, Engressia began adopting the Joybubbles name and made the decision to put his adult life and responsibilities behind him. After moving to Minneapolis in 1982, Engressia proceeded to found his own church, the Church of Eternal Childhood, became an ordained minister for organization, and created a simple non-profit dedicated to helping adults rediscover the joys of childhood. Joybubbles supported himself on a disability pension and odd jobs as a subject in scent intensity research. Locally, he spent time giving readings at a local library for the blind and arranging phone calls for terminally ill children.
In 1991, Engressia legally changed its name to Joybubbles. Citing childhood abuse among the issues leading to the decision, the name change was one way Joybubbles created a delineation between his unhappy past and the world he had created for himself. Throughout the rest of the decade, Joybubbles continued to work with local community organizations to benefit children and to help adults recapture some of the wonder of seeing the world through a child’s eyes.
On August 8, 2007, Joybubbles died at his home in Minneapolis, Minnesota. As part of his legacy, Joybubbles left many positive memories that will continue to enrich the lives of those who knew him.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
