Joe Robert Townsend

Joe Robert Townsend, 85, of Richardson, Texas went home to be with his Lord and Savior on Monday evening, August 21, 2023, after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases.

Joe was born June 10, 1938, in Liberty, South Carolina, the oldest of seven siblings, and grew up in Greensboro, North Carolina. In 1956, Joe graduated from Jamestown High School in Jamestown, North Carolina, was voted Most Courteous, and was also where he met the love of his life and high school sweetheart Jane Montgomery of High Point, North Carolina. They were married on November 23, 1957.

In 1958, he graduated with honors from the General Motors (GM) Institution (now Kettering University) in Flint, Michigan. In 1991 and 1992, Joe was inducted into the National Instructor Advisory Council after scoring top ten in the nation, out of 350 thousand each year who take the test in all areas of a car to include diesel engines. After a 28-year career with Pontiac and GM, Joe accepted an early retirement in 1992 from the G.M. Service Technology Group as an instructor developing technical training programs for technicians and instructors, developing diagnosis and repair procedures for new products, and training instructors, technicians, and service managers at the GM Training Center in Garland, Texas.

After retirement from GM Joe continued working as an independent contractor training technicians until 2000. Joe will be remembered for his passion for Pontiac and GM automobiles, training technicians and instructors, and promising never to touch a Ford.

If you came to visit Joe at home, you knew he would more than likely be in the garage and hand you a flashlight to hold so he could see what he was doing or if interested give you a wrench to turn.

He loved square dancing and was known for being a smooth dancer who mastered the twirl. He also loved RV’ing and traveling across the country with Jane, sometimes taking turns closing their eyes, and putting a finger on the map and saying, “Let’s go here”. Joe accomplished RV’ing to all 48 lower states, traveled to Hawaii, and finished with an Alaskan cruise to ensure all 50 states were visited. Most of all, Joe will be remembered for his three true loves: Jesus, Jane, and his family.

Joe is survived by his wife Jane, his sons Keith and wife Linda, Mark and wife Maria, and daughter April and husband Kris Arnold; grandchildren Heather, Krystina, Eric, Jerod, Rebecca, Luke, Amber, Amy, and Autumn; great grandchildren Katelynne, Hayden, Amanda, Desirae, and Alexander, sister Tommy Walker, brothers Mike and Sam; and his caregiver Tabitha Barnhart.  He was preceded in death by his father Tom Joe and mother Frances Bowen Townsend, and his brothers Bowen, Henry, and Walton.

The family will host a Celebration of Life Service honoring Joe on Tuesday, September 5, 2023, at 11:00 am at The Heights Church, 201 W Renner Rd, Richardson, Texas.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association, at https://act.alz.org or to the Jamestown Alumni Association, P.O. Box 1345, Jamestown, NC 27282.