Joe Braswell

© Hart Funeral Home

Submitted by: Jo Aguirre

Funeral services for Joe Braswell, 88, are Saturday, Nov. 29, 2 p.m., at the Hart Funeral Home Chapel. Interment will follow services at Tahlequah City Cemetery. Services have been entrusted to Hart Funeral Home of Tahlequah.

Braswell, former resident of the Tahlequah area and a 40-year resident of Carson City, Nev., died Nov. 22. He was born July, 1, 1920, in Muskogee, to George F. and Katherine (Wolfe) Braswell.

As a young child he traveled with his father part of the time with the Al G. Barnes Circus, which he fondly remembered. He lived for a while with his brother, Lee, and also for a time with his sister, Pauline and her family. He attended several Bureau of Indian Affairs schools. As a young man he was reunited with his mother and brothers, George and David.

During World War II he was in the Army Air Corps, serving with the ground crew of the 451st  Bomber Crew (H) in Italy. After graduating from John Brown University, he served as pastor for several different Indian Missions and Methodist Churches in Oklahoma. He also taught school for a short while but soon found his life's work in the field of social services. He served as a county welfare director for two counties in Oklahoma for about a decade.

He received a Master of Social Worker degree from Arizona State University in Tempe, Ariz., and worked as a social worker in Oklahoma, Arizona, California and Nevada. He was proud of his work as state director of Social Services for the Inter-Tribal Council of Nevada, Inc. during the 1970s. He also worked for the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Phoenix, Ariz., as assistant area director before retiring in 1984.

He is survived by his wife, Ruth; four children, George Leon (Karen) Braswell, Salina, David Lee Braswell, Pryor, Sharon Ruth (Leidy) Braswell-Zern, Burnsville, N.C., and Catherine Ann Braswell, Wichita, Kan.; eight grandchildren, John (Deana) Braswell, Baton Rouge, La., George Braswell, Norman, Jason (Mary Jo) Kuechenmeister, Marion, N.C., Joe Braswell, Wichita, Kan., Rebecca (Russell) Moore, Arden, N.C., Sandra Braswell, Wichita, Kan., Allison Braswell, Gallup, N.M., and Christine Braswell, Salina; five great-grandchildren, Brittany Hauck, Wichita, Kan., Tawni, Alyssa, Hayli and Matthew Moore, all of Arden, N.C., and Joseph Braswell, Baton Rouge, La. and several nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by three children, an infant daughter, Delores, and two sons, Paul Issac and Phillip James.

He was an active member of Good Shepherd Wesleyan Church and treasured his relationship with God. He volunteered with FISH and with a respite hospice program. He enjoyed bowling, fishing and playing golf. He was a member of Kiwanis while in Oklahoma, and a life member of Sertoma. He also belonged to the American Legion and VFW.

Those left behind will remember his smile, his love for his family, his pride in being a Cherokee, and above all that he was a praying man.

A special thank you to St. Mary's Hospice for their loving care and to all friends and family who prayed for the family through the years.

|B Surnames Page|  |Tahlequah Cemetery Page|  |Cherokee County Cemetery Page|  |Home|

---

This site may be freely linked, but not duplicated in any way without consent.
All rights reserved! Commercial use of material within this site is prohibited!
© 2000-2024 Oklahoma Cemeteries

The information on this site is provided free for the purpose of researching your genealogy. This material may be freely used by non-commercial entities, for your own research, as long as this message remains on all copied material. The information contained in this site may not be copied to any other site without written "snail-mail" permission. If you wish to have a copy of a donor's material, you must have their permission. All information found on these pages is under copyright of Oklahoma Cemeteries. This is to protect any and all information donated. The original submitter or source of the information will retain their copyright. Unless otherwise stated, any donated material is given to Oklahoma Cemeteries to make it available online. This material will always be available at no cost, it will always remain free to the researcher.