Joseph Charles Riemer Jr.

A celebration of life service, followed by a reception, will be held at 1 p.m. on April 12, 2026, at Radney Funeral Home, 3155 Dauphin Street, Mobile, Alabama.

Joe was born on December 22, 1940, in Belle Chasse, Louisiana, to Joseph and Helen Riemer. He grew up in Belle Chase and Algiers, Louisiana. He mastered the clarinet and saxophone and played in various bands in the New Orleans area while in high school, including the Syncopators, a jazz and rock band. He attended Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, where he earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music education. In 1962, he married Mary Lou Baird, and they moved to Mobile, where Joe started his teaching career. He dedicated over forty years to music education and cultural enrichment along the Gulf Coast. He served as a band director at Shaw High School and Davidson High School in Mobile. In 1979, he left teaching to join the Mobile office of Mutual of New York and earned the designation of Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU). In 1990, he returned to teaching and held band director positions at Bay Minette Middle School, Baldwin County High School, and Faulkner State Community College. He retired from teaching in 2000.

In his forty years as a music educator, Joe shared his deep love for music with generations of young people and motivated many to embrace music as an important part of their lives, whether professionally or as amateur musicians. He also inspired many to pursue careers as music educators. Additionally, he was passionately dedicated to jazz and community music. Joe served on the board of the Mobile Jazz Festival and conducted its High School All-Star Jazz Band, leading many performances on the festival’s main concert programs. He was a founder of the Mobile Symphonic Pops Band and co-directed it for ten years. In 1997, he established the Baldwin Pops, a community band in Baldwin County. He proudly served as its music director from its founding to 2007, and continued to play with and guest-conduct the band for several years thereafter. He performed with the Mobile Symphony Orchestra, as well as local community bands, jazz groups, and dance bands, including the Bill Lagman and Bob Shultz Big Bands, which were staples of Mardi Gras balls in Mobile for decades.

Joe was a member of Music Educators National Conference, the Alabama Bandmasters Association, the Florida Bandmasters Association, and the music fraternities Phi Mu Alpha and Phi Beta Mu. He was widely sought after as an adjudicator, clinician, and guest conductor throughout the Southeast. He was named one of Mobile Bay Monthly’s “Masters of the Arts” in 2001 and received Fairhope’s first “Quality of Life” Award in 2007 for his contributions to the cultural life of the community. Also in 2007, Joe was awarded the “Arty” – an annual award presented by the Mobile Arts Council that recognizes individuals for their

contribution to the enrichment of Mobile’s arts and cultural landscape. In 2010, he was inducted into the Alabama Music Educators Association Hall of Fame.

Joe was an avid outdoorsman. He enjoyed fishing, camping and hiking. He was also a devoted dad and Pawpaw, and shared his joy and passion for life with his children and grandchildren. His exuberant positivity and infectious sense of humor will be greatly missed.

Joe is preceded in death by his parents Joseph C. Riemer, Sr. and Helen Denoux Riemer.

Joe is survived by his wife of 63 years, Mary Lou Baird Riemer, his children, Kenneth Riemer (Denise) and Sharon Riemer Delchamps (Paul), and his four grandchildren: Paul Joseph Delchamps (Victoria), John Benjamin Delchamps, Haley Baird Riemer, and Barrett Christopher Riemer (Jayli Dismukes), and his great-granddaughter, Elizabeth Leigh Delchamps. He is also survived by his sister-in-law Marilyn (Dede) Wilson, his nephew James F. Wilson (Fiona Lofthouse), and his great-nieces Alice and Joanna Wilson.

The family wishes to extend our sincere thanks and appreciation to the excellent staff at The Retreat at SAAD Hospice for the loving care provided to Joe in his final days. The family is also grateful for the care provided by Dr. Ceasar Agagan and Cassandra Young.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Baldwin County Pops in Joe Riemer’s name to support its student scholarship fund. Donations may be made through the website www.baldwinpops.com.