David Louis Joseph

David Louis Joseph, 95-year-old resident of Grove, Oklahoma, died November 8, 2022, at his home. He was born on March 30, 1927, to Louis Barnett Joseph and Virgie (Brasel) Joseph in Jasper, Arkansas. David married Clara Maxine (Meeker) Joseph on April 28, 1945, in Huntington, Long Island, New York. He was a World War II Veteran, serving in the Coast Guard aboard the USS Peterson and later at a light house in Oyster Bay near Cold Springs Harbor on Long Island. David was at Normandy the day after D-Day where he was assigned to pick up the survivors and the dead from the water. After an injury, he was assigned to the light house where Maxine would secretly join him after they were married and where they lived the first year of their married life, rotating duties each week with another service man between the light house and an apartment in Huntington. They were married for 77 years. Following the war, David and Maxine moved to Kansas City, Kansas where he worked at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City, Missouri retiring as Group Sales Manager over the company’s sales force. Following his retirement, David and Maxine moved from Kansas City to build, own and operate a successful commercial egg operation just outside of Siloam Springs, Arkansas. It was called Pinecrest Farms and later Joseph Egg Farm. He and his brother-in-law and sister, Chuck and Ruby Lawson owned Morning Fresh Egg Company in Siloam Springs. David was a private pilot with commercial and instructor ratings who loved flying airplanes. He and Maxine owned a Cessna 172 with another family. Before moving to Arkansas, he founded and organized an Air Explorer Post in Kansas City, Kansas where he and other volunteers worked with local high school boys and girls to rebuild airplanes and teach them to fly enabling them to earn their own pilot’s license. As much as he loved airplanes and hunting for quail and pheasant in western Kansas with his close friends, he loved fishing more and fished whenever possible. He and Maxine and Paul would vacation each year in Minnesota or Canada to catch Northern Pike and Walleye, but his favorite was crappie. All his life, David had a knack for catching fish. He and his wife, son and daughter-in-law spent the last three years of David’s life in a home on Grand Lake o’ the Cherokees in Northeast Oklahoma looking out over the lake. Many times, he would comment, “I love this place.” He and Paul spent many days at their dock fishing for crappie where David would catch 6 or 7 fish for every one that Paul caught. He is preceded in death by his parents, Louis Joseph and Virgie Joseph Stepp; brothers, John Frank Harbaugh, Bobby Cranor, James Joseph, Tommy Joseph, and Ollen Stepp. David is survived by his wife, Maxine Joseph of the home; sister, Ruby Lawson of Springdale, Arkansas; brother, Otto Patrick Herring of Washington State; brother Bill Stepp of Springdale, Arkansas; sister Brenda Dowell of Springdale, Arkansas; sister Patsy Jones of Springdale, Arkansas; sister Sharon Pettijohn of Springfield, Missouri; sister Debbie Hillbrant of Boaz, Alabama; brother Chuck Joseph of Boaz, Alabama; son Paul Joseph and wife Shirley of Grove, Oklahoma; three grandchildren Andrew Joseph, Alexander Joseph, and Jacqueline Barbee. He leaves a whole host of loving relatives and loyal friends who love and miss him and his gentle nature. In lieu of flowers, David’s family encourages donations to First Christian Church of Siloam Springs. His funeral service will be 11:00 a.m., Thursday, November 17, 2022, at First Christian Church, 1405 W Jefferson Street, Siloam Springs, AR 72761. Burial will be held at a later date at Oakhill Cemetery in Siloam Springs, Arkansas. To sign the online guestbook, please visit: www.wassonfuneralhome.com.

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David Louis Joseph

March 30, 1927 - November 8, 2022