Joshua Orion Hardy, 52, lived in Virginia Beach and worked there as an Engineering Technician for four years. He was a Norfolk native who worked for that city for 12 years before taking a job at the City of Virginia Beach Public Utilities Department.

Hardy also went by Dennis Angelo Hoskins, a name he chose to honor his grandfather “who was like a father to him,” according to his obituary.

Hardy’s family described him as having a great sense of humor and being an avid Bible reader who loved to fellowship with everyone he met, according to his obituary.

“If you knew Joshua, you knew the Lord,” his obituary says. “We will miss his smile, his attentiveness and guidance; he will be sorely missed and forever in our hearts.”

His coworker, Brent Werlein, described Hardy in a Facebook post as a prankster who “was always fun to be around.” Werlein said that a few of Hardy’s pranks included covering his colleague’s office supplies in wrapping paper and buying a keyboard and immersing it in jello.

“He was someone who we could get riled up in a good way,” Werlein wrote. “He was a brother who every day would bring a smile to your face.”

A service will be held in Hardy’s memory on June 9 at noon at Metropolitan Funeral Service Berkley Chapel.