Joe was a servant in the truest sense. Throughout his life he always sought to serve others, whether at church, through police work and fire service, or through the multiple boards and charities he worked with in his life. His life started in Starkville as the second child and first son born to Fontaine and Mary Pennell in August of 1954. He was raised to work hard and play hard, be it starting the day hauling hay and ending the day fishing as the sun set. His love of the family, farm, and the clean living that it fostered stayed with him till the end.
After high school, he focused his work ethic toward a degree in business at Mississippi State University while working part time at MSU Police Department. After graduating college, he took job with the Starkville Police Department where he made a big impact and just had the “luck” of often being in the right place at the right time. Looking for a safer career to support the family they hoped to grow, Joe left the police department and started a career at Gulf States Manufacturing Inc that would last 37 years.
It was around this time that he married his high school sweetheart, Merry “Cookie” Pennell. They were blessed with three healthy children in whom they instilled the same work ethic, desire for clean living, and a desire to serve their fellow man, that Joe had grown up with.
Joe was a “see a need, fill a need” kind of man, and in 1988 he joined with other like-minded servants and founded the Volunteer Fire Service in Oktibbeha County. Through hard work and dedication, they grew from one department into seven fully equipped departments to cover the county. In 2013, he rose to the rank of fire chief of Central Oktibbeha Fire Department. His love and dedication to the department and the work they did was only surpassed by his love and dedication to the Lord.
Serving in one capacity was not enough for Joe, he often found himself on the board of local charities, the water association, and a member of the safety team at First Baptist Church where he dutifully protected the congregation and staff during Sunday services.
Through all this he never lost his love for the farm he grew up on and continued to work hard every summer to cut, rake, and bale hay that often left the farm to go to those who needed it but may not be able to afford it with the assurance that they would pay when they could. He would conveniently forget to collect those debts as well when he saw it was necessary.
He is survived by his loving wife, Merry; three children, Katie Ruth (Dale), Ben (Leslie), and Sam (Delisa); two granddaughters, Lindsey Claire Ruth and Gracee Edwards (Seth); one great-granddaughter, Anderson Edwards and his sister Janice Guice, two nieces, and several great-nieces and nephews, Sister-in-law, Leanna Lindsey Hollis and nephew Ryan Hollis. In leu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made in his honor to National Fallen Firefighter’s Foundation or your local Volunteer Fire Department.
Memorial services will be held Saturday, December 2, 2023 at 10:00 a.m. at First Baptist Church Sanctuary in Starkville, MS.
