Wilbur Ernest ‘Joe’ Joseph, 31 Aug 1923 - 30 Oct 2010

JOSEPH, PROCHNOW, NEWKIRK, POSSEHL, BOOTH, ADLER, JAMES, ADLER, JAMES, CONNER, MORLOK, TIMM

Posted By: Sandy Ficken-whc (email)
Date: 11/10/2010 at 16:38:31

Celebration of life services for Wilbur “Joe” Joseph, 87, Williamsburg, were held at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 2, at Immanuel Lutheran Church, rural Williamsburg.

He died Saturday, Oct. 30, 2010, at the University of Iowa Hospitals, Iowa City, from complications of pneumonia.

The Rev. Richard Meyer officiated at the service. Burial was in Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery. Memorials may be made for Lutheran Interparish School or Immanual Lutheran Church. Powell Funeral Home and Cremation Service, Williamsburg, was in charge of arrangements. Messages and tributes may be left at www.powellfuneralhomes.com, under obituaries.

Wilbur “Joe” Ernest Joseph was born Aug. 31, 1923, in Houston, Texas, the son of Walter and Elsie (Prochnow) Joseph.

He graduated from Seward Concordia High School and College. He served in the US Army at Camp Roberts, California. After graduating from college, he taught at Immanuel Lutheran School, Williamsburg.

He married Dorothy Newkirk June 21, 1947, at Immanuel Lutheran Church, Williamsburg.

The following fall, they moved to Klinger, where he was a principal for four and one-half years. At that time, he had an opportunity to move back to Iowa County where he farmed with his father-in-law, Walter. He remained actively farming for over 40 years.

He was a member of Immanuel Lutheran Church, where he served as a treasurer and elder. In the community, he served on the Farm Bureau board, served a 12-year term on the Williamsburg School Board, in which seven of those years he served as president. He was able to hand each of his girls her high school diploma. He loved to fish and always had a story to share.

Joseph is survived by his wife; five daughters and their husbands, Andrea and Harlan Possehl, Williamsburg; Roxane and Larry Booth, Winter Haven, Fla.; Valorie and Dave Adler, Omaha, Neb., and Ronda Joseph and Brenda Joseph, both Williamsburg; five grandchildren, Stacey Possehl, Michael Possehl and special friend Bianca, Brad James, Dan Adler and Rachel Adler; a great-granddaughter, Courtney James, and her mother Ami Conner; one sister and her husband, Lorene and Herb Morlok; three brothers and their wives, Jerry and Lorena Joseph, Walter Lee and Kathy Joseph and James and Faye Joseph, and one brother-in-law, Bill Timm.

He was preceded in death by his parents; brothers and their wives, Erwin Joseph, as an infant; Ed and Vivian Joseph, Herb and Gloria Joseph, and Louis and Phyllis Joseph; one sister, Delores Timm, and one sister-in-law, Marion Joseph.

Williamsburg Journal Tribune, Williamsburg, Iowa, 04 Nov 2010, pg 3