Joseph Clarence Hampton was born in Omaha, Nebraska, August 25,1922. He was 90 years old when he died on January 3, 2013 in Red Bluff, CA. Joe moved to California with his family when he was about 3 years old. They lived in the Paso Robles area until his mother died when Joe was 8. From there, the family moved to the Santa Rosa area finding work wherever they could. In the 1940's, Joe started a painting apprenticeship. This was interrupted by World War II. At the recommendation of his younger brother. Bob, Joe joined the Navy. He was a submariner in the South Pacific. When the war ended, he married Helen and resumed his apprenticeship in San Francisco. One year later, they moved to Petaluma to a chicken ranch. In 1957, Joe moved his family of five to Red Bluff where he had obtained a job painting the Diamond Match facility. One year later, he started Red Bluff Painting and Decorating. Fishing, boating, camping, gardening, raising animals and construction occupied his time. He was always working on a project. He was a member of the Red Bluff Elk's and Red Bluff Vesper Lodge 84, Free & Accepted Masons.
