Joe M. LOCKE

©Enid News and Eagle

08-07-2008

Submitted by: Jo Aguirre

Graveside committal service for Joe M. Locke, 93, will be 10 a.m. Saturday, August 9, 2008, at Garrison Cemetery near Dacoma with a memorial service at the Dacoma United Methodist Church following at 10:30 a.m. Rev. John Bizzell will officiate and arrangements are by Lanman Funeral Home, Inc. of Cherokee. The casket will be open for viewing at the funeral home today from 10 a.m. until 8 p.m. with the family present from 6 to 8 p.m.

Online condolences may be shared with the family at http://www.lanmanmemorials.com/.

Joe M. Locke was born in his grandmother's home on February 11, 1915, to Gladys Locke in Naturite, Colorado. He departed this life on Tuesday, August 5, 2008, at Share Medical Center in Alva after several months of illness. His father, Josiah M. Locke, died before Joe's birth in August 1914, at Santa Fe Hospital. Joe had many special memories of the time spent with his Grandmother Pyle.

Joe moved to the Keystone area, northeast of Dacoma, when his mother married Fred Leeper. He completed elementary school at Keystone Country School then graduated from Dacoma High School in 1932. He then attended Oklahoma A&M College for 3 1/2 years where he drove a cab to help with expenses. Joe always attended the Dacoma Alumni Reunion where he always saw many classmates and friends.

Joe and Elva Jane Allison were married on December 31, 1939, and he started farming after the death of his step-father in 1939. He farmed and ranched in the Dacoma area, in western Kansas and in South Dakota. Joe did custom harvesting for many years. He was always ready with a helping hand to those who had needs, be it monetary work, or lending of a farm implement. Their problems soon became his. Many a young man's first job was working for Joe. They were always adopted as a member of the family and were most likely given a nickname that stayed with them for years. He and Elva Jane operated their business for 61 years before she passed away in February of 2002.

Joe was the last survivor who helped build the present-day Dacoma United Methodist Church where he was a member. He especially remembered digging the basement. Joe was also a charter member of Dacoma Lions Club and he belonged to Elks Lodge of Alva.

Joe married Bettie Lue Stewart in Hugoton, Kansas on August 12, 2002, and they had almost six years together before Joe's death. They spent much of this time traveling and visiting family and friends. It was a relationship that, even though it was short, was a very special time for the two of them. Relatives and friends will miss the many letters Joe wrote and his phone calls. He enjoyed keeping in touch with those for whom he cared.

Those who have preceded Joe in death are his parents, Josiah Morrill and Allie Gladys Currie Locke, his step-father, Fred Leeper, his first wife, Elva Jane Allison Locke, and his three sisters, Vera Cullison McCrary, Edythe McCray and Helen Patterson.

Those surviving are his wife, Bettie Lue Locke; step-children, Max and Becky Moser; two step-grandchildren and their wives, Darin and Teresa Moser and Jerrod and Joline Moser; five step-great-grandchildren, Dalton, Daresa, Mason, Zachary and Lauren; other relatives, Genevieve Lamaster, J. W. and Ruth Small and family, Max and Loleta Leslie and family, Charles and Jonnie Young and family, Calvin and Jackie Leeper and family as well as many more relatives and friends.

Memorials may be made to Dacoma United Methodist Church through Lanman Funeral Home, Inc. of Cherokee.

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