Joe Thomas Wofford went to be with the Lord on June 25, 2019 after living a long and fulfilling life. Joe was 87 years old and died of complications from a heart attack and pneumonia. Born on July 23, 1931 in Chickasaw County, Mississippi to Joe Ben and Evelyn Wofford, he grew up on a farm in the community of Hohenlinden, Mississippi. After graduating from Cumberland High School in 1949, he attended Wood Junior College for one year before enlisting in the Air Force at the outbreak of the Korean War. Joe graduated at the top of his class as an airborne radar maintenance technician, and served three years in various stateside postings. In 1952 he met and fell in love with Frances M. Rollins of Memphis, Tennessee and they were wed in July of 1953. They eventually settled in Olive Branch, Mississippi in 1968. Joe worked as a salesman of plumbing and industrial supplies, eventually establishing his own business, Smith & Wofford Plumbing Supply, in 1988. He sold the business and retired in 2005. He and Frances were married for 62 years and raised three children. Joe remained actively involved in the lives of his five grandchildren, and five great grandchildren until the time of his death. Joe confessed Christ as a teenager and served continuously in the Baptist church as a deacon, Sunday school teacher, and in various leadership roles. He was preceded in death by his parents, his wife Frances, and his daughter Carolyn Lang. He is survived by his brother Jimmy, sister Pat Schaffer, daughter Donna Roach and her husband Tom, son Dennis Wofford and his wife Gayle, grandchildren Jeff Strawn, Justin Strawn, Tiffany Anderson, Ben Wofford, Lela Wofford, and five great grandchildren Caleb, Lillie, Jackson, Morgan, and Ansley. The family will receive friends Friday, June 28, 2019 from 10am until the funeral service begins at 11am, all at Gracewood Baptist Church in Southaven. Interment will follow in Autumn Woods Memorial Park.
