Joseph Stein

Joseph Micheal Stein, son of Micheal Ambrose and Isabelle Mary (Foxhoven) Stein, was born on January 13, 1942, on the family farm in rural Portsmouth, Iowa. He attended country school, along with his 8 siblings, and graduated from Harlan High School in 1959. He was a longtime member of St. Michael's Catholic Church.

Joe left the farm, after the death of his father, and moved to Harlan, Iowa, with his mother and siblings. He continued to live in his family's home until his passing.

After graduation, he enlisted in the United States Army and proudly served his country during the Vietnam War. During his service, he was stationed in Fort Benning, GA, as a medic, where he corresponded with his sweetheart, Diane Sorenson, back in Iowa until she moved to Georgia to join him. 

On December 27, 1965, Joe and Diane were married in Alabama, and he welcomed her six-month-old daughter, Lisa, as his own. Upon his discharge from the Army, the couple returned to Harlan and became parents to Dawn and Marty.

Joe worked for various construction crews and packing plants throughout his life and he eventually retired, after many years of employment with Farmland Foods in Denison, Iowa. 

Joe and Diane enjoyed trips to the casinos, feeding ducks by their favorite lakes, growing a massive garden to can their harvests and keeping up with their six grandchildren, who all grew up living within three blocks of Grandma and Grandpa's house. 

After Diane passed away in 2003, Joe continued to garden and tend to his beautiful yard. His poor neighbors were often forced to enjoy his extremely loud singing and whistling while he worked. 

He built himself a massive workshop where anything could be built, fixed, improved or invented with duct tape, a toggle switch, entirely too many 4-inch nails or some spare pieces of wood and wire that he had lying around his workshop. Joe was an amazing storyteller, and he made the best apple and cherry pies from scratch. He was always happy to treat his grandchildren and great-grandchildren with an endless supply of popsicles, hot cocoa, George Foreman grilled steaks on demand and mini candy bars from his secret candy hiding spot. He enjoyed burning anything and everything in his firepit and would often roast a few hot dogs over the fire until they were burnt to a crisp and he'd eat them with grape jelly. 

He was a wealth of knowledge on so many subjects, and he was seldom wrong, even when he was. 

He loved watching football and cheering for his Iowa Hawkeyes and Kansas City Chiefs. 

Joe was very proud of his German heritage and the fact that he did not know the English words for many common things until he went to high school. Perhaps the most disappointing tragedy of his life was when his grandchildren bought him an Ancestry DNA kit and he found out that he was 6% French, and therefore, not 100% German. 

Joe passed away peacefully in his sleep, after a battle with cancer on November 29, 2024, at the age of 82 years. He had just enjoyed Thanksgiving, surrounded by his beloved family. He was determined to make it to Thanksgiving to enjoy a big slice of pumpkin pie (with extra whipped cream) and to go in his sleep, and he did just that. 

He was preceded in death by his parents, his wife, Diane, his in-laws, Howard and Olga Sorenson, and his siblings, Martha, Cecilia, Bernard, Raymond, Frances and Mary.

Joe is survived by his children, Lisa Stein of Harlan, Dawn (Bill) Winnett of Harlan, Marty (Angela) Stein of Denison, his grandchildren, Holly (Justin) Stinn of Harlan, Morgan (Branden Mapes) Stahl of Harlan, Michael Stein of Audubon, Iowa, Matthew (Savanna) Stein of Cedar Falls, Iowa, Hannah (Tyler) Schroeder, of Waterloo, Iowa and William (Kayla Shepherd) Winnett, of Fairbanks, Alaska, his great-grandchildren: Anna, Isabelle, Jacob and Harris, all of Harlan, his brother, Nick Stein of Kalispell, Montana and his sister, Marlene Butts of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He leaves behind several nieces, nephews, neighborhood kids and acquired family members who have lovingly adopted him as "Grandpa Joe" over the years.

A Graveside Service with Military Honors will be held at 1:00 p.m. on Friday, December 6, 2024, at the Harlan Cemetery in Harlan, Iowa. Memorials may be directed to the family.