Residence: Peoria, Arizona, formerly of Monticello, Indiana
Died: Sunday, February 17, 2013
Location: 9:32 p.m. (Arizona, time), (11:32 p.m., Monticello, Indiana, time) in Peoria, Arizona
 
 
Age: 91
Date of Birth: Saturday, September 10, 1921
Birth place:

Branch: Navy

Service: World War II
Father: Wilson Van Meter
 
Mother: Mabel ( Criswell ) Van Meter
 
Marital Status: Married
Resided in: Joe had lived in the White/Carroll County Communities most all of his life prior to moving to Arizona
Funeral Date: Friday, March 08, 2013
Funeral Location: 2:00 p.m., Celebration of Life Services at the Miller - Roscka Funeral Home of Monticello, Indiana
Clergy: Rev. Tom Albaum of the First Presbyterian Church of Monticello, Indiana
Burial will take place:
Hughes Cemetery in rural Monticello, Indiana.
Visitation will be:
11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., Friday, March 8, 2013, at the Miller - Roscka Funeral Home of Monticello, Indiana.
Biographical Information:
Joe was very proud of his business, Van Meter Plumbing and Heating. He spent over fifty (50) years dedicated to his clients, frequently going out in the middle of the night to get pumps going when families and/or farms were without water or to get furnaces going in the cold of winter. He was a member of and loved his First Presbyterian Church of Monticello, Indiana, and the Church of Litchfield Park in Litchfield, Arizona. Joe was a United States World War II Navy Veteran. He was very proud to have been an airline mechanic for the Navy on Whidbey Island, Washington. Joe was a member of the American Legion Post #81, and a long time active member of the Saddle Club. both of Monticello, Indiana. He was a witty intellectual who was known for his avid interests in reading, self education, and politics. Joe devoted the last sixty (60) year to his wife, Delores care. She had polio in 1952, and was permanently paralyzed from the waist down at that point. Joe was a very complex but always passionate man. He and Delores met when they was teenagers. She was visting her aunt's summer cottage on the lake near Buffalo, where Joe's family lived. Delores was very young, but knew Joe was the right guy because he got out of the boat to retrieve her swimming cap when it "accidentally" fell off her head, out of the boat into the river.
Special Services: Full Military Rites by the Honor Guard of the American Legion, VFW, and AmVets Post, all of Monticello, Indiana. will be conducted at the cemetery.
Memorial Information: Memorials may be given to the First Presbyterian Church of Monticello, Indiana, or to the Church of Litchfield Park in Litchfield, Arizona. Envelopes will be available at the funeral home.
Marriage Information: On March 22, 1942, in Indianapolis, Indiana, he married Delores White. She survives.
Survivors include:
Wife, Delores Van Meter of Peoria, Arizona, formerly of Monticello, Indiana; Daughters, Bonita (husband Ron) Funk of Tucson, Arizona, Lonna (husband Jeff) Gutierrez of Goodyear, Arizona, and Pam (husband Bill) Dunston, Athens, Georgia;Sons, Thomas "Tom" (wife Judy) Van Meter of Atlanta, Indiana, and Joseph W. "Joe" (wife Martina) Van Meter, Jr. of Washington D.C.; Sister, Helen Reynolds of Kokomo, Indiana.
Preceded in Death:
Parents, Wilson and Mabel (Criswell) Van Meter;Sisters, Leona Luse, and Imojean Van Meter;Brothers, Robert "Buck", James "Jim", and Glen "Bud" Van Meter.
Arrangements by:
Miller - Roscka Funeral Home, 6368 E. US 24, Monticello, Indiana, 47960 ( 574 ) 583-8488.