Joe R. Boatman

Joe R. Boatman was born September 24, 1920 in Tamaha, Oklahoma. He graduated from Porum High School in 1939. He attended Northeastern Oklahoma State University form 1939 to 1942 and served in the U.S. National Guard during that time.He was employed as a U.S. Border Patrol Agent by the U.S. Immigration Service from 1940 to 1942. He entered the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1943 and was honorably discharged in 1946 after serving the bulk of his time as a criminal investigator in Guam during WWII.Joe graduated from Northeastern Oklahoma State University in 1947. He served as a Criminal Deputy Sheriff for Muskogee County in 1947 and 1948. Joe taught Government and Sociology at Connors State College 1948 through 1954.Joe Attended the University Of Oklahoma Law School where he graduated in 1953 and was admitted to the Oklahoma Bar in 1953. He served as the Assistant County Attorney in Muskogee County in 1955 and 1956. He ran for Associate District Judge of Muskogee County in 1954 and again in 1977.Joe began private practice in Muskogee in 1956 and retired in 1981 due to health reasons. He was appointed by Robert Kennedy, Attorney General, as Special Hearing Officer for the U.S. Department of Justice in 1963 to 1968.After his law practice he became a daylily hybridizer and tried to get everyone interested in Daylilies.He is a past president of the Muskogee County Bar Association. He married Elizabeth Rosalind Poindexter in 1947. Elizabeth was a Registered Nurse at Veteran’s Hospital in Muskogee for 28 years.Joe was a huge OU fan. He passed away peacefully at home.Survivors include; his wife Elizabeth Boatman of the family home in Bartlesville; two sons Ben Boatman and his wife Mary of Bartlesville and Bob Boatman and his wife Robin of Ft. Gibson, Oklahoma; two daughters Teresa McCormick of Piedmont, Oklahoma and Rosalind Dietrich and her husband Gary of Cushing, Oklahoma; one brother Don Boatman of Bartlesville; and numerous grandchildren and great grandchildren, nieces and nephews. Mr. Boatman was preceded in death by his parents, a brother Lavonne Boatman and a sister Adele Weaver.Private family services will be held at a later date. Cremation arrangements were under the direction of the Stumpff Funeral Home and Crematory. In lieu of flowers the family requests contributions be made in memory of Mr. Boatman to Washington-Nowata Nutrition Project, 301 E. Angus Dewey, Oklahoma 74029.