Joe Sparks
08/12/1942 - 04/06/2011
Joe Sparks, Jr., 68 of Grand Forks, ND passed away Thursday, March 31st, 2011 in Altru Hospital in Grand Forks. Joe Boyce Sparks, Jr. was born in Amite, Louisiana on August 12, 1942 to Joe and Mildred Anne (Flanagan) Sparks. He graduated from Bartlesville High School in Oklahoma and attended Tulsa University. He was a member of the U.S. Army and lived in Okinawa, Japan. In the Army, Joe was a Sharpshooter, Marksman, and Expert with Pistol and Rifle. He was a member of the Military Police and worked extensively training and using military guard dogs.
After returning to the United States and leaving the military, Joe began working with Cities Service Oil Company. Cities Service sent him to Wolf Point, Montana on a seismology crew for a few months. While there, he met the love of his life, Dianne E. Kalmbach. They married on April 3, 1965. The fall of that year they returned south. During their marriage, they were blessed with four children: Stacy (Benno), John, Justin, and Chris. Joe remained an oil main for the remainder of his career life.

After leaving Cities Service Oil Company, he went to Kerr McGee Refining Corporation in a management position and continued to advance within the organization. He retired from Kerr McGee as an executive in 2000 while living in Houston, TX.

With Joe, family came first. He was an avid hunter and loved to duck and deer hunt with family and friends. Many funny stories were told and retold that shared a common thread of family trips, hunting, and going to the lake. Joe had a big heart for those he knew and those he didn't, often surprising people with his kindness and support. In 2002, Joe and Dianne moved from their home in Houston, Texas to Grand Forks, ND. Even though Joe was born and raised a southerner, he made the move to the north to be near his one and only grandson, Spenser. They each thought the other hung the moon. Spenser is the only one who could get his grandpa to put up with the long winter months and the mosquitoes "bigger than Texas".

Joe was a member of the Elks, The American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars. He is survived by his wife, Dianne Sparks, Grand Forks, ND; daughter, Stacy (Benno) Evens, Grand Forks, ND; sons, John, Houston, TX; Justin, Houston, TX; Christopher, Houston, TX; grandson, Spenser Evens, Grand Forks, ND; sister, Susan McNabb, Houston, TX; and a brother, Patrick Sparks, Chandler, TX. He is preceded in death by his parents Joe B. Sparks, Sr. and Mildred "Anne" Flanagan Sparks.