JUNKER, Joel R. 1950-2019

JUNKER, RUDI, DANGEL

Posted By: Tammy (email)
Date: 11/18/2019 at 07:47:46

Joel Rudi Junker, 69, of Seattle, Washington, and Solana Beach, California, passed away on August 31, 2019.

Joel was born in Eldora, Iowa, to Gordon and Anita Junker on January 22, 1950. He attended Valparaiso University, Indiana, where he was the Student Senate President, and graduated with a Political Science degree in 1972. Joel studied internationally at Cambridge University, England (1970) and in Reutlingen, Germany (1972). He received his Doctor of Jurisprudence from California Western School of Law, San Diego, California, in 1977, where he was Editor in Chief of the Cal Western International Law Journal. Joel returned to the University of Cambridge, Trinity Hall, where he received his LL.B (Honors) in 1978. Joel discovered his love of rowing at Trinity Hall and rowed competitively for much of his life.

Joel was a customs and trade attorney and the founder of a specialty international trade law firm, Joel R. Junker & Associates, in 1991. He was a member of the California and Washington State Bar Associations, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and the U.S. Court of International Trade. In 2001, Joel was considered for the position of Commissioner of Customs under former President George Bush. In 2014, he formed a partnership with Matt Nakachi (Junker & Nakachi) with whom he continued his law practice.

Joel married his college sweetheart, Laura Dangel, in 1973. After being widowed, he remained a bachelor until meeting Jeanette Taylor, his life partner, in 2009. He was a devoted brother, uncle, and friend. Joel had many interests outside of law. He was an avid golfer, enjoyed reading for pleasure, playing and listening to all kinds of music, traveling; especially to visit family and friends in the States and Europe, and spending time at his beach home. He was also the author of two published works of fiction, That Boy from Nazareth and The Atwelle Confession, penned under Joel Gordonson. He had also completed a third unpublished novel and was working on a fourth. Joel's greatest joy was spending time with family and friends.

Joel is preceded in death by his wife, Laura (Dangel) Junker; father and mother, Gordon and Anita (Rudi) Junker; father-in-law and mother-in-law, Victor and Marjorie Dangel (Young); sister and brother-in-law, Marilyn (Junker) and Eric Pyle; sister-in-law, Linda (Dangel) Black; and grand-niece, Amy Hild.

Joel is survived by his life partner, Jeanette Taylor; sisters, Donna Brosdahl (Dennis) and Karen McCoy (John); brothers-in-law, Daniel Dangel (Cathy) and Dayton Dangel (Maria); four nephews; seven nieces; five grand-nephews; and seven grand-nieces.

He will be missed by those who knew and loved him.

Memorial services will be held on Saturday, September 14th at 11:00 a.m. at Community Lutheran Church, Escondido, CA.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to the American Cancer Society, www.donate3.cancer.org, as cancer touched many of the lives of those Joel loved.

--Washington Obituaries (washington.funeral.com)