Joe Alben Cloaninger, 96, passed away on Wednesday, October 30, 2024, in Statesville, North Carolina. He was born on June 4, 1928, in Iredell County, to the late Troy Rankin Cloaninger and Jettie Ostwalt Cloaninger.
Joe graduated from Celeste Henkel School in 1947. He was a member of Front Street Baptist Church. A veteran of the United States Army, Joe was stationed in Ulm, Germany as a peacekeeper. He loved to travel and visited Amsterdam, Paris, and Normandy during his time in Germany. His love of travel continued when he and his beloved wife Julia took their three children to visit Germany in 1977.
Joe enjoyed attending cattle and farm equipment auctions. He continued his parents’ legacy of dairy farming, with his wife managing the bookkeeping for the farm and their three children working on the farm. The Cloaningers sold Grade A Jersey milk to Hunter Farms dairy processing plant in Charlotte.
Joe was preceded in death by his wife of 64 years, Julia Anne Wilson Cloaninger; brothers Frank Cloaninger and Max Cloaninger; and sisters Hazel McNeely and Margaret Flynt.
Those left to cherish his memory are his children, Curtis Cloaninger (Marion) of Vilas, Trent Cloaninger (Marcy) of Statesville, and Janet Cloaninger of Atlanta, Georgia; two step-granddaughters, Amy and Savannah Squibb; 3 step-great-grandchildren, and special caregiver, Karen Morris.
A graveside service will be held on Monday, November 4, 2024, at 11:00 a.m. at Iredell Memorial Gardens, with Pastor John Stevenson officiating. The family will speak to friends following the service.
Donations in Mr. Cloaninger’s memory may be made to Gordon Hospice House, 2347 Simonton Road, Statesville, NC 28625, or to the Lung Cancer Research Foundation, 501 7th Avenue, Suite 230, New York, NY 10018 or online at https://www.lcrf.org/.
