Joe was a free spirit, never landing in one place for long.  We never knew when or where he would show up but were always glad to see him.  Joe’s enthusiasm and love of life were contagious to those around him.  He was always eager to help a friend who was in trouble or with a new project.  Joe will be missed by his friends in Steamboat Springs where we spent many hours working and playing in the mountains.

We'll miss you, Joe.  

"May flights of angels sing thee to thy rest"

Aunt Kathy and Uncle Fred Shumway

I met Joe just a few weeks ago, August 10th, when he came to the Trading Post in Paonia Colorado.  He showed up for our very informal Seventh-Day Adventist Church and worshiped and sang with us. He shared his story of broken down cars and how he ended up there, and his sense that it was all Divine providence. He shared his photographs and how finding them was also Divine providence.  He shared his love for and gift 💝 with food.  His love for making anything with chocolate. 🍫  

It was sabbath and he shared that he had a job on Monday but he was not sure how he would get to the pick up point 40 min away before 6 am.

I felt the Divine impression that I should help him. I knew the people he was working for, Tuxedo Corn in Olathe, a Seventh-Day Adventist couple, and I felt like whoever Joe was, if he was willing ti work, I should be willing to get him there. 

So, on Sunday night i wasn’t  to surprised when I got a text from his friend Chesterfield that Joe needed help. I was a bit surprised 😲 when I figured out pick up time would need to be at the town library at 4:45 am to get there by 5:30 am. 

But alas, when God impresses, anytime is time to obey. 

I didn’t tell anyone in my family what I was doing, they would have refused to let me go with some “random guy.”  But I am so thankful for the extra 40 
min with Joe. I don’t remember a lot of the conversation, only that by the time I dropped him at the gas station I really hoped it would not be the last time we met. He was a good man with a good heart. 

I’ve since learned that he was worshiping for several weeks at the Seventh-Day Adventist Church ⛪️ in Delta CO and he was becoming well loved there. 

I pray for Joe’s surviving loved ones.  Bi-polar is a big cross to bear and he shouldered it with courage and strength.  I’m sure all of you helped him when he faltered.  I hope we can have a memory service for him here in Paonia, Colorado and I would be happy to help organize it if that is desired by the family.

Dear Curt, Georgia, Curt, Brad, Kathy, Owen, Kathryn, Charlie, Allison, and Family,

As the Director of Alumni Relations Emeritus at Saint Viator High School, I offer you the sympathy of the Saint Viator High School Community.  You are in our prayers as you share the stories, laugh and cry, and find ways to celebrate the life of Joe and the love you shared.

As I read the obituary for Joe, a man who "will be deeply missed by his family, friends and the many people whose lives he touched with his gentle heart," I was reminded of an adaptation of a reading from the Book of Sirach.
"Let us praise an illustrious man,
faithful to his family and friends, strong in his love.
At peace in his heart and his world,
he has left us his good name, and we recount his life of  praiseworthy deeds….
His name lives on from generation to generation.
We gather to sing his praises.
We proclaim his wisdom and love of life all our days."

We want you to know that we are proud to “claim” Joe, a man "whose heart was kind, his spirit free, and his smile infectious," as an alumnus.

We will remember Joe and celebrate the fact that he continues to be a member of our community at our annual Alumni Memorial Mass, which will be celebrated in the Saint Viator Alumni Memorial Chapel on Sunday, November 3, 2024, at 10 am.  Information about this year's Mass, as well as the live-streamed 2023 AMM, is available at SaintViator.com in the Alumni section. 

As is our tradition, in October 2025 we will order a plaque with Joe's name to prayerfully honor him, along with other deceased alumni on a wall in the chapel.  Also, Joe's name will be listed in the "In Memoriam" section of our next issue of our news magazine, A Lion for Life.

May God’s promise that life is changed, not ended, comfort you!
May the knowledge that your son, your brother, your uncle, lives on in your goodness give you peace and hope!

Take care and God bless you with those gifts you most need!
Judith Amberg

Many of us in Paonia are thinking of Joe often and wishing for peace for his loved ones.

My deepest condolences to all who knew and loved Joe, gone too soon. Keeping all of the Bullocks in my thoughts and prayers.

OBITUARY

Joseph Kenny Bullock

October 17, 1966 – September 24, 2024

Glueckert Funeral Home

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