Joe J Meester

PLEASE NOTE: Actual date of death was on February 25, 2014. Graveside services will be held on Tuesday, May 20, 2014 at 9:30AM at the Collins Cemetery in Willow Lake. Full military honors will be provided by the Johnny Fonken American Legion Post of Willow Lake and the South Dakota Army National Honor Guard. Rolls and coffee will be served after at the Presbyterian Church hall. Anyone is welcome to attend. Joe J. Meester, age 95, lifelong resident of the Willow Lake area, died peacefully in the Prairie Lakes Hospital at Watertown on Tuesday afternoon, February 25, 2014 with family at his side. Visitation will be held on Friday, February 28, 2014 from 4-6PM at the United Presbyterian Church in Willow Lake and will continue on Saturday morning after 10AM at the Church. Funeral services will be held on Saturday, March 1, 2014 at 11AM in the United Presbyterian Church at Willow Lake with The Reverend Dr. Lois Aroian and The Reverend Dick Poppen officiating. Burial with full military rites by the Johnny Fonken American Legion Post #113 of Willow Lake will take place in the spring in the Collins Cemetery at Willow Lake. The organist will be JoLayne Symens with the casketbearers being Larry Grensburg, Deb and Paul Jennings, Steve Birkholtz, Kerwin Kannegieter, Curwin Bratland and Robert Syring. He was born Joe J. Meester on November 8, 1918 in Mission, TX, the son of John Henry and Mae R. (Schmidt) Meester. His father was stationed in Texas during WWI. When he was 2 years old the family moved to Clark County where he attended school first in the Gammelin School and then Willow Lake High School, remembering watching as the school was built in 1926-27. He started high school in 1932 and during that year, he, Mel Hamre, Vernon Arwood and Clayton Townsend formed a quartet, Barbershop type, singing at many community functions. He also played basketball and softball in high school and graduated in 1936. Following high school he helped on the family farm until being inducted into the US Army in July of 1941. Joe was extremely proud, although very quiet about it, of his service to his country. He served in the Philippine's on Luxon Island and had spent 10 days pinned down in a fox hole by the Japanese. After his discharge on December 24, 1945, he hitchhiked home to Willow Lake from Aberdeen and surprised everyone on Christmas Day! After returning to Willow Lake, he opened a beer joint; Joe's Bar, in the basement of his parent's restaurant, the Home Café in Willow Lake. He operated this for a time and then farmed full time. In December of 1948 he was united in marriage to Esther A. Gehrke Austin. To this union three daughters, LaDonna, LaVonne and Sandra, were born. Esther had two children at the time she and Joe married, Richard and Marjorie, so now making it a family of five children, all of them helping on the farm. Esther died of cancer in 1966. On June 7, 1975 he was united in marriage to Lorraine H. Raap Carlson in Watertown. The couple enjoyed dancing, music and traveling on bus tours through the Farmers Union, enjoying seeing 49 states and into Canada. In November of 2008, Lorraine died after suffering a major stroke in 2001. Joe continued living on the farm west of Willow Lake, near Melham, until moving in to the Roetell Senior Housing in Clark a short time ago. He was a lifetime member of the United Presbyterian Church at Willow Lake and a 70 year continuous member of the American Legion Post #113 of Willow Lake. In addition to music and dancing, Joe also enjoyed playing pinochle and visiting. Preceding him in death were his parents, spouses, Esther and Lorraine, a daughter LaDonna in 1997 and a brother, Herman (Eunis) Meester. Survivors include his daughters, LaVonne Jo (Arnold) Neuharth of Mechanicsville, VA, Sandra Kay (Dan) Eschenbaum of Belgrade, MT, 1 granddaughter and 2 great-grandchildren; step-children, Richard LeRoy (Janet) Austin of Willow Lake and Marjorie Ann (Dale) Rothenberger of Watertown, 4 step-grandchildren, 3 step-great-grandchildren and 2 step- great-great-grandchildren. He also leaves a brother, Harold "Hunce" (Darlene) Meester of Watertown and nieces and nephews. Furness Funeral Home of Clark is serving the family where there is an on-line registry at www.furnessfuneralhome.com