DOUGLAS JOOSTEN

DOUGLAS JOOSTEN 02/07/1929 - 09/11/2025 Douglas W, Joosten passed away peacefully at the age of 96 (February 7, 1929 - September 11, 2025) after a short illness. Dad's family started with getting married to Ruth in early 1949 during the poorer portion of the wedding vows "For richer or poorer". Stephen was born in late 1950, Michael in late 1952 and Sheila in late 1958, which completed the family. Dad's wife Ruth passed in 2015 after 66 years of marriage. As you can imagine the stories are numerous and fascinating, but the cedar chest story links everything together. Dad enlisted in the Air Force and spent his last nickel in 1948 on the cedar Chest for his fiancée during a train stop in Denver on the way to Idaho from Basic Training. The cedar chest was sent to Mom in Grant, Neb., their shared hometown. Mom in early 1949, with her fortune of $365 and a train ticket to Idaho, travelled to Boise where they got married with a wedding party which totaled five - including the minister. The barracks weren't suitable, so the $365 was used to buy an 18-foot trailer near the base. There was no room for the cedar chest! After three years the trailer was upgraded to a 35-foot, still no room forthe cedar chest with the two kids. Dad was sent to England for 18 months in 1955 and 1956 while the rest of the family and the trailer stayed at Grant, right next to the cedar chest. After Dad returned from England, the family landed at Ellsworth AFB in South Dakota and the cedar chest was now within a relatively short driving distance. The trailer home was upgraded again when Sheila (1958) was born. There was now enough room to house the cedar chest. On a summer trip to Grant the decision was made to bring the cedar chest to South Dakota. At last Mom was reunited with her Christmas present from 1948. The next (1964) transfer to Wright-Patterson AFB in Dayton, Ohio, resulted in the trailer home being exchanged for furniture for the first brick and mortar home. In 1968 Dad retired from the Air Force and became a locksmith then, moved to Albuquerque in 1979. While in Albuquerque, Mom painted the cedar chest white to match the bedroom nightstand. Mom later decided that the natural wood better suited her decor and restored the original finish. The cedar chest moved with Mom and Dad to River Falls, Wis., in 2012 to be closer to family (Sheila and Brian Schils). In 2024, Dad and the cedar chest moved to Primrose in Shawnee, Okla., with the cedar chest making only a brief stop before going to Ft. Worth to grandson, Adam's house, then a couple of months later travelling to Houston to Michael's house. It has been a treasured 77-year journey with no end in sight! Dad was a pilot, carpenter, boat builder, pinochle player, inventor, manufacturer, marketer and thorn in the side to GM as he patented and marketed the only known way to pick GM automotive locks. Two J-3 Piper Cub pilot stories are: With a 50 MPH headwind, Dad flew backwards at about 10 MPH over Grant while the residents were watching and doing a lot of pointing. This was possible as the Piper has a stall speed of 38MPH. Another time, during the record blizzard in Nebraska in 1949, Dad flew supplies to stranded farmers with groceries in the passenger seat and a bale of hay wired under each wing to feed the farmer's cows. Surviving Dad are all his decendents - three children (Stephen, wife Stephanie, and son Scott, long-time Shawnee residents; Micheal, wife Debbie-Houston; and Sheila Schils, husband Brian, River Falls), five grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. Services were held in River Falls on October 19. Burial with Military Honors at Fort Snelling National Cemetery in Minneapolis was on October 20th. Many thanks to all of Dad's caregivers at Primrose, Shawnee Colonial Estates, and Dr. Gregory Grant, Dr. John Haddad, and Dr. Leonard (Robinson Eye Clinic).