Joel Brady Locke

Joel Brady Locke, 72, of Odessa passed away Sunday, December 1, 2013 at Medical Center Hospital. He was born November 26, 1941 in Mineral Wells, TX to Carl Edwin & Caroline Jane (Brown) Locke. He graduated from Arlington Heights High School in 1960, where he was student body president. He was also president of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity at the University of Texas. After undergraduate school he went to law school at U.T. and graduated from there is 1966.

He was recruited by the McMahon, Tidwell Law Firm in 1967. From the mid-seventies he was an attorney for the Odessa Industrial Development Corporation (OIDC). He prepared legal documents that were negotiated to attract major employers to Odessa. He transferred to the Shafer Davis Law Firm around 1980. At times and his career he represented Medical center Hospital, Odessa College, The Colorado River Water District and many other organizations and individuals. He was a member of Westminster Presbyterian Church since moving to Odessa. He also served as an elder there. He was a very talented artist mostly involving pottery. To this day his pottery is still used for communion at his church.

He is preceded in death by his parents.

He is survived by his son, Brady Locke & wife Tiffany of Midland, daughter, Karen Avery & husband Michael of Midland, brother, Carl Edwin Locke, (Uncle Bubba) & wife Sammie of Lawrence, KS, (6) grandchildren, Alexandria Michelle Avery, Locke Elliot Avery, Chase Carl Locke, Cole Perrin Locke, Jessica Katelynn Avery, & Miles Edward Goran.

He had many friends of all walks of life. Like Will Rogers he never met another person he didn’t like. He would refer to himself as an “old country lawyer.”

A memorial service will be held at 11:00 a.m. Friday, December 6, 2013 at Westminster Presbyterian Church with Pastor Eric Thompson officiating. The inurnment will occur at a later date at Union Hill Cemetery near Mineral Wells, Tx.

Services entrusted to Hubbard-Kelly Funeral Home.