|
DATELINE; Spruce Pine, NC
Joseph Fernando Decker entered eternal rest on Wednesday, March 5,
2008.
He was born in Nicholson, Pennsylvania, on May 10, 1914, to his
parents Fred and Mary Lou Decker. He was the only son among four
sisters, two of whom preceded him in death.
Joe
attended Keystone Junior College and Penn State University. After
college he worked for Stanley Home Products until he joined the Navy
during World War II. In the war he participated in landings in
Africa, Sicily, and Italy, as well as D-Day in Normandy. After the
war was over, he married his first wife, Ann Moore, and developed a
successful turkey farm in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania. There he also
enjoyed his involvement with the Boy Scouts of America. After he
retired, he and Ann moved to Bakersville, NC. There Joe continued
to enjoy sports and played tennis in the Senior Olympics each winter
at Jekyll Island, Georgia, as long as he was able. In 1997 he lost
his wife Ann to cancer.
Joe is
survived by his second wife, Ethel; his son, John and wife, Brenda,
of Greenville, South Carolina; two sisters, Ruth Farwell of Kentucky
and June Stahl and husband Ben of Virginia; stepchildren Karen
Hoover of Black Mountain, Carla Howell of Spruce Pine; Mike Norman
of Florida, and Richard Norman of Texas; in addition he is survived
by several nieces and nephews and step grandchildren.
A funeral
service will be held on Friday, March 7, at 2:00 P.M. at
Henline-Hughes Funeral Home in Bakersville with the Rev. Larry Green
officiating. The family will receive friends one hour before the
service.
Burial will
be in the Green-Young Cemetery at Roan Mountain Baptist Church.
In lieu of
flowers, the family asks that memorials be made to The Hospice and
Palliative Care Center of Mitchell County, PO Box 38, Spruce Pine,
NC 29777.
|
