Joseph Lyle Mead

Joseph L. “Joe” Mead, 77 of rural Hamar, ND died on Saturday morning, March 15, 2008 at his home in the care of his loving family. A Memorial Service for Joe will be held on Saturday, March 22, 2008 at 4:00 p.m. at the Gilbertson Funeral Home, Devils Lake with Pastor Harold Chin, Grand Forks Seventh Day Adventist Church officiating. Joseph Lyle was born on October 16, 1930, the son of Joseph Silas and Hattie (Stafford) Mead in Cable, Wisconsin where he was reared and educated. At a young age, Joe moved to the Badlands of North Dakota, where he started working for an area rancher named Bill McCarty who also signed the paperwork so that on September 7, 1949, Joe could enlist early at the age of 17 in the United States Army and served with the 35th Quartermaster Pack Company, last company of the Calvary. While serving he survived the historic Fort Carson fire where much was destroyed. He also survived being captured as a POW during the Korean War and served his country until his honorable discharge on September 14, 1950. He continued to serve in the Army Reserve for another six years. Joe moved to Alaska where he worked for the Army Corps of Engineers in its territorial days, before statehood. He later worked for the Department of Transportation, Highway Division as a Foreman, working out of Birch Lake Camp, for over 20 years, retiring in 1985. Joe’s life was always an adventure and with those adventures came many risks. Almost all his adventures were life threatening, including being buried in an avalanche with his plow truck while working for the DOT and falling through the ice on the frozen Tannana River while taking a string of horses across. But Joe wouldn’t have traded the life he led for the world, for his life was anything but boring. Joe, doing what he loved, established a rodeo in Delta Junction, Alaska which inadvertently drew people in from afar but more importantly it gave everyone in a small town with more bars than anything something else to do. Joe became a breeder of the American Bashkir Curly Horse before it was even a recognized breed. He has sold the breed all across the United States and even to many foreign countries, including Germany, Australia, Austria, England, France, Sweden and his blood lines have reached Scotland. He was instrumental as a breeder of the Curly Horse. This love for the breed never left him and the horses followed him where ever he went. He received special recognition from the Curly Horse Registry for his work in advancing the Curly Horse breed into what it is to this day. After his retirement, Joe returned to the US and settled in Sequim, Washington. In 1995 he returned to North Dakota and eventually moved to the Jerusalem Hills north of Hamar where he called home for many years and has made many great friends. Joe was a very active member and served as a member of the board for the American Bashkir Curly Horse registry. He was also a member of the International Curly Horse Association. Highland Cattle Association, American Morgan Horse Association, American Sport Horse Association and the American Buckskin Registry Association. Joe lived life to the fullest and with a pioneer spirit. He was very proud of his children and grandchildren and their accomplishments. We shall forever cherish his memory in our hearts. Joe is survived by his sons, James Lyle Mead of Alaska; Joseph C. Mead also Alaska; E. Kyle Mead and his wife, Carol of Tolna; Hillis Mead of Devils Lake. Six Grandchildren, Shawna Mead and Katelyn R. Griffin, Morgan and Megan Mead, Sierra Marie Lynn Possen and Amy Jo Lynn Mead. Brothers, Clyde (Goldie) Mead of Utah; Donald (Kate) Mead of Wisconsin and Keith Mead also of Wisconsin. Sisters: Avis (Leonard) Olson of Oregon and Cathy Skaj of Wyoming. He was preceded in death by his parents; brothers, Jim and Dean Mead; sisters, Abby Jo in infancy and Joyce Mead.