Joe C. Poole

Joe Poole, born January 5, 1922, grew up on a farm in Greenville, South Carolina. As a young man he became a pilot. When he was plowing fields, he looked up and saw a plane and always said it was not a hard decision to become a pilot. His first flight lesson was on December 7, 1941, the day the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. He trained young men to become Air Force pilots at Spence Air Force Base in Moultrie, GA. He later worked for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as a safety inspector investigating air plane accidents in Minneapolis, MN, Jacksonville, FL, and Orlando, FL, and at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University as a aircraft safety officer. When he was 83 he was awarded the Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award by the FAA for fifty years of safe flying with 30,000 hours in the air. He was one of only six pilots in Florida to receive this award and his name is inscribed in the “Roll of Honor” at FAA Headquarters in Washington, DC. Joe passed away in his sleep on August 30, 2014 at the age of 92. He will be remembered as a loving husband, father, grandfather, and friend. He had an amazing sense of humor and was a kind soul.

Joe is survived by his wife Eva, originally from Greenwood, S.C, to whom he was married 68 years. He was an avid tennis player and golfer and had a hole in one at Windsor Park Golf Course. He is also survived by his son, Joe Poole, Jr. of Jacksonville, daughter, Marcia Marshburn and her husband, Leslie Marshburn, of Jacksonville, daughter, Patricia Poole of Longwood, FL, and granddaughter Laurel Skaggs and her husband Alan Skaggs of Orlando, FL, and granddaughter, Devon Wucherer of Boynton Beach, FL. Services will be held at eleven o’clock in the morning on September 4, 2014 at Deermeadows Baptist Church. Viewing will be held from five thirty until eight o’clock in the evening on September 3, 2014 at Hardage Giddens Funeral Home, 4115 Hendricks Ave., Jacksonville, FL. In lieu of flowers donations may be sent to Community Hospice of Northeast Florida on Sunbeam Road, Jacksonville, FL or Deermeadows Baptist Church. Words of comfort can be left at www.hardage-giddenshendricksave.com Arrangements are under the care and direction of Hardage-Giddens Funeral Home 4115 Hendricks Ave. Jacksonville, FL 32207. (904) 346-3808.