- Date Of Birth: November 8, 1924
- Date Of Death: December 31, 2011
- State: Colorado
Joe Bailey Faulkner (1924-2011), 87, of Highlands Ranch, Colorado, passed away on December 31, 2011. He is survived by his wife, six children, seven grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
Joe was born in Whitesboro, Texas, on Nov 8, 1924, the second of four children of Weldon Bailey and Roberta Faulkner. He grew up on their farm a few miles south of town. After graduating from high school in 1942, he started college at North Texas Agricultural College in Arlington (then part of the A&M system, now the University of Texas at Arlington), where he, like all the other young men, enrolled in ROTC. In November 1943, he entered the Army Air Corps, where he trained as a bomber navigator and became a 2nd Lt. in. He was in California for more training when the war ended. He returned to college at the University of Texas on the GI Bill where he studied Chemical Engineering.
Joe went to work for Core Laboratories when he graduated and worked all over the Rocky Mountain area. It was while he was working in Powell, WY, that he met a school teacher named Lois Nelson; they married in 1950. Joe tried his hand as a co-owner of a gas station, but shortly after decided that it was not for him, so in 1954 he moved to Casper and went to work for Black, Sivalls and Bryson (BS&B) as a sales engineer for oil field equipment, where he traveled all over Wyoming and nearby states selling, installing and servicing oil field equipment.
In 1968, Joe went to work for Gary-Williams Oil Producers, Inc. as a senior engineer. When the Casper office closed in 1973, Joe and his family moved to Denver. Joe worked for Gary-Williams for 18 years and finally retired in 1986 while holding the title of manager of operations.
Joe was a family man. He had six children Robert (1951), Richard (1952), Catherine (1956), William (1959), Thomas (1960) and Mary (1965). When his sons’ scout troop was in need of leadership, he became a Scoutmaster even though he had no previous experience in scouting. Joe was a quiet man, not one for small talk. He said what needed to be said. He was practical and handy. He could fix or build most anything. He was an engineer and all his sons became engineers of some type – two even work in the oil business.
