How did St. Joseph die?

[DiegoJames]

I just heard out of the “corner of my ear” on EWTN while doing something else that St. Joseph died in the presence of Jesus and Mary. I had once heard that it was assumed that Joseph passed away before Jesus died, but never heard anything so specific as that Joseph died in the presence of Jesus and Mary. What is the research and/or tradition on Joseph’s lifespan and when, where, and in whose presence was he when he died?

 

[Michelle_Arnold]

I don’t know how it was presented on EWTN, but the idea that St. Joseph died in the presence of Christ and the Blessed Virgin is a pious supposition, based on the reasonable assumptions that Joseph died before the start of Jesus’ public ministry (otherwise Mary wouldn’t have been traveling about the countryside unaccompanied by her husband) and that his Son and his wife likely would have been by his side whenever he did die. Based on that pious supposition, St. Joseph is often invoked as a patron of the happy death since he likely died as we should wish to die when our time comes: In the presence of God and his Mother.