Joe H. Young II

Colonel Joe H Young, U.S. Air Force retired, age 89, of 21 Heather Dr., Candler, NC, unexpectedly died Tuesday morning, 9 July 2024. Colonel Young was born on 10 December, 1934, in a snowstorm, in Candler. Because of the blizzard his parents were unable to get to the hospital so the doctor parked and went on foot and Joe was born at home.

Joe was raised on his mom and dad’s farmland, raising crops of all kinds and selling them locally, mostly to grocery stores. They also had over 900 chickens and sold eggs.

He got up before dawn every day and worked for hours doing chores, delivering orders for vegetables and eggs before he went to school. Even with all this outside work he still managed to be inducted into the National Honor Society and was the president of his class. After graduating high school he went to college at NC State. He majored in Agricultural Engineering because he planned to go home and farm with his dad. He was in AFROTC then too.

But his dad died of stomach cancer when Joe was 19. The Air Force offered him a pilot slot, and he decided to stay in the military. He was commissioned and ended up staying for 30 years, retiring as a full colonel. He was recruited by, and worked for, the DOJ for another 10 years. He finally retired permanently in 1999. He and Gayle, his wife of 42 years, moved back to Candler in 2003.

Joe was raised in Oak Hill United Methodist Church and after his return he attended weekly until his death. He was the chair of the SPRC and sang in the choir.

Though officially retired, he never stopped helping family, friends and community in any way he could until his dying day. He loved the quote, “Do all the good you can, By all the means you can, In all the ways you can, In all the places you can, At all the times you can, To all the people you can, As long as ever you can” (John Wesley).

He is survived by his wife, Sandra Gayle Young; by his five children, Joe H. Young, III, and his wife Catherine, John Emory Young, Jennifer Ellen Young, Jennifer Leslie Wessels-Young and Jonathan Randall Bingham; by his four grandchildren, Joe H. Young, IV, Elspeth (Young) Walther and her husband Paul, Zené Rose Gardea and Samuel Randall Bingham; and by a great granddaughter, Freya Catherine Walther. He is also survived by his brother, Jack Young and his wife Kay, his sister Anita (Young) Hendrix and her husband David, by Joan Emory Young, and by numerous nieces and nephews.

The graveside funeral service, with full military honors, will take place at 12 noon at Oak Hill United Methodist Church Cemetery. In accordance with his wishes, Joe will have a green burial. His family will receive friends following the service.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Oak Hill UMC, 277 Oak Hill Road, Candler, NC 28715, 828-667-1782, or through the Western North Carolina Conference giving portal at https://www.wnccumc.org/online-donations-to-churches

Groce Funeral Home on Patton Avenue is assisting the family.