Joe May

(From Mason-Woodard Mortuary)

Joseph (Joe) Amos May passed peacefully from this life on March 12, 2024 at the age of 79 after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease.

Joe was born May 10, 1944 in Miami, Oklahoma to John (Bud) and Mildred May. He had one younger brother, David Lee May, who preceded him death on August 28, 2023. 

Joe’s wife of 57 years, Sharen May, survives, as do his two children and their spouses, Doug and Heather May of Tulsa, Oklahoma and Jamie and Carrie (May) Kimbel of Huntsville, Alabama, and six grandchildren: Sydney May and her husband Aaron Alexander of Tulsa; Erin May of Abilene, Texas; Harper May of Tulsa; Ashley Kimbel of Birmingham, Alabama; Julia Kimbel of Huntsville, and Hannah Kimbel of Huntsville.

Joe graduated from Joplin High School in 1962 and from the Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy (now Missouri University of Science and Technology) in Rolla in 1966 with a degree in mechanical engineering. 

Joe served in the U.S. Air Force for four years after college before beginning a professional career that took him first to Tulsa, then to Dallas, before returning to Joplin, where he worked for EaglePicher Technologies until his retirement. 

Joe and Sharen lived in Joplin for 43 years before moving back to Tulsa in 2023. Joe was a faithful member of the Church of Christ and served as an elder at the church in Joplin for a time. Joe was an accomplished long-distance runner, a quail hunter and a competitive skeet and trap shooter. He was a brilliant engineer and problem solver until Alzheimer’s began to slowly take him away from us. Joe was a kind and loving husband and father who will be dearly missed by all who had the good fortune to know him.

The family will receive friends for visitation on Friday, March 15, 2024 from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. at Mason-Woodard Chapel in Joplin, Missouri. Memorial services will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, March 16, 2024, also at the Mason-Woodard Chapel.

Arrangements are under the direction of Mason-Woodard Mortuary & Crematory Joplin, Missouri.