Memorials › Joe Bryan Crees
Joe Bryan Crees
19 Apr 1932 – 24 Feb 2019
| Birth | 19 Apr 1932 |
| Death | 24 Feb 2019 |
| Cemetery | Oak Hill Cemetery Grand River , Decatur County , Iowa , USA |
| Added by | The Real McCoys on 27 Feb 2019 |
| FaG | https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/197167979 |
Bio
Joe Bryan Crees was born in a log cabin at the foot of the Laramie Mountains during the Great Depression on April 19, 1932, in Dwyer, WY. His dad, Paul B. Crees, and his mom, Inez E. (Grimm) Crees, had moved there from Grand River, Iowa, as Paul had landed a job with the railroad. When Joe was 4, they moved back to the family farm in Iowa because his grandpa, Cyrus C. Crees, had been hurt. From the time he could walk, Joe helped his mother with the chores and baking. He liked making chocolate cake and churning the butter. By the time he was 5, Joe was big enough to help with the farm chores. Joe graduated from Grand River High School in 1949. In high school, Joe loved to play basketball. Grand River was a tiny school, but one year they made it to state tournaments. Joe often told stories about his basketball days. All his grown years, his places had a basketball hoop. For a short while, Joe went to Leon High School. It was there he met his future wife Maxine Lewellen, the daughter of Zenas and Beulah Lewellen. Upon graduating from high school, Joe joined the Navy to see the world, and he saw a lot of the world aboard the U.S.S. Jenkins, the first prototype super destroyer. As an electronic technician during the Korean War, Joe was one of the first persons to track a moving target with radar. In 1951, while he was stationed at Point Mugu, California, Joe drove to Las Vegas to meet Maxine, who had sewn a $100 bill in her pocket and taken the bus from Leon. They were married June 23, 1951, in the Wee Kirk of the Heather Wedding Chapel, the only wedding chapel in Las Vegas at that time. After the Navy, Joe’s electronic Naval training opened job opportunities, and he eventually began a long and successful career with the Federal Aviation Administration becoming an Airway Facility Sector Manager. In 1981, he retired at the age of 49, having spent the two previous years making the Midway Airport in Chicago, IL, operationally viable again. He and Maxine had thoroughly enjoyed all the varied cultures and experiences Chicago offered. Upon retirement, they moved to Lewistown, MT, where their daughter Karla resided and where Maxine had been born. Then in 1984, they moved to Billings, MT, where Joe went back to college at Eastern Montana College, now Montana State University Billings, and graduated with a Business Degree and an art minor in 1987. Immediately after graduation, Joe was hired by Martin Marietta as a consulting engineer in Dallas, TX, and worked as a liaison between the firm and the FAA. After 5 years with them, he and Maxine moved back to Billings retiring for good. They bought a cabin in Sapphire Village, MT, in the Little Belt Mountains, and eventually moved to the cabin where they spent the last 15 years of their life together. They enjoyed roaming the mountains, mining for Yogo Sapphires, hunting, fishing, road trips, and enjoying friends, family and grandkids. In 2010, after a long illness, Maxine died in his arms at the cabin. During Joe’s years in Sapphire Village, he spent a few years as the president of the Sapphire Village Yogo Sapphire mining association, and was active in the American Legion in Hobson, MT, serving as president with them as well. Joe moved to Lewistown, MT, where his daughter Peggy lived, in 2014. In July 2015, after being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, he moved to Billings, MT, where his daughter Karla lived, into the Springs at Grand Parks. He was well loved by all his caretakers. Joe died of natural causes on February 24, 2019, at The Springs. Joe loved life, good times, good music, travel, and the outdoors. He is survived by his children, Peggy Crees residing in Minnesota, Laurie Walsh and her husband, J.R., Joseph Bryan Crees and his wife, Tammy, residing in Florida, and Karla Mazel and her husband, Dan of Montana, plus numerous grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces and nephews. He is also survived by his brother, Jesse Crees and his wife, Theresa of Arizona, his brother, David of Des Moines, Iowa, four sisters-in-law, and four brothers-in-law.
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