Joseph and Malcolm had been on holiday in Italy in early October 2008, and Joseph had got backache. But being a nurse and having had backache before Joseph thought no more of it. At the end of October Joseph and Malcolm were in Argentina to celebrate the second anniversary of their civil partnership. Joseph's backache seemed to have got worse, and strangely he was sick and a lump had appeared in his abdomen. Malcolm arranged for a doctor and scans at a hospital in Buenos Aires, and though Joser was cleared fit to travel, he was told that a mass in his abdomen was serious and needed to be dealt with on his return to Europe. They decided to return to the UK rather than Austria, and travelled to Oxford, where Malcolm's family were based. Joseph was admitted to the John Radcliffe hospital there and was diagnosed with aggresssive B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. He underwent nearly 3 months gruelling chemotherapy treatment as an inpatient. Malcolm arranged to work part-time from Oxford so that he could visit Joseph every day. In mid-January he was discharged to receive chemotherapy as an outpatient. He and Malcolm were living then with Malcolm's father in Oxford, and Joseph was very happy not to be hospital. On 20 February, they were told bad news, that the lymphoma was growing again, in spite of the chemotherapy, and that Joseph was expected to have only weeks to live. Joseph wanted to stay out of hospital as much as possible, and health care support was provided to Malcolm at his dad's home. On 17 March, after an uncomfortable night, Joseph became very weak, and passed peacefully while being transported to hospital, Malcolm at his side. A funeral was held at the Oxford crematorium on 27 March to celebrate his life. Over 70 people, family, friends and colleagues attended. Acts of remembrance were also conducted in California and Mississippi, in Manila, and in Vienna.

Joseph's ashes were split in three. Malcolm kept a third, and scattered a third in Joseph's beloved Lake Como at Bellagio (GIS coordinates: 45.985070, 9.259048), and the last third is in a columbarium in the Ever Memorial Gardens of Meycauayan, Bulacan, Philippines (GIS coordinates: 14.734818, 120.980117).