Joel C. Hanes

Joel C. Hanes, 76, Mason City, died in the Muse Norris Hospice Inpatient Center on Wednesday, September. 14, 2005 after a long struggle with cancer. Memorial services will be held 10:00 AM Saturday, October 1st at the First Presbyterian Church, 201 Willowbrook Drive with Rev. Terry Hamilton-Poore officiating. Private family inurnment will be held in Elmwood-St. Joseph Cemetery. A gathering of family and friends will be held from 5:00 to 7:00 PM Friday, September 30th at Major Erickson Funeral Home, 111 N. Pennsylvania Avenue. Masonic services will be held 7:00 PM at Major Erickson Funeral Home. Joel Charles Hanes was born August 22, 1929, in Mason City, Iowa, son of Joel Fairman and Helen Atwood (Wells) Hanes. He was raised and educated in Mason City, graduated from Mason City High School in the Class of 1947 and was a steadfast participant in the activities of that class. He graduated from Mason City Junior College in 1949 and continued his education at Iowa State College in Ames, graduating with a degree in Business in 1951. A life-long resident of North Iowa, Joel made his home in Mason City for most of his life, moving to live lakeside at Clear Lake from 1975-1993. Joel?s greatest happiness was his marriage to Joyce Laurene Reinke, daughter of Otto and Lizzie (Aders) Reinke of Benton County, Iowa. They were wed September 8, 1951 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Partners and friends, their relationship was founded on love, admiration, respect and everlasting devotion. He loved her, and the children they had together, and all their family, with all his heart until the day he died. As a student Joel worked with his grandfather from 1944-47 and with his father from 1947-61 in the family business, Yelland and Hanes. From 1961-69 he traveled across Iowa, South Dakota and Nebraska as a salesman for Boorum and Pease, a manufacturer of office supplies. In 1969 Joel and Edward, his brother, bought Yelland and Hanes from their mother and aunt. In 1970 Joel, Joyce, Edward and Billie Hanes founded Midwest Wholesale, Inc, an office supply wholesaler, selling Yelland and Hanes in 1978 to managers of the business. Joel remained active in Midwest Wholesale until his retirement in 1998. Recognized as a national leader in his industry, Joel served as President of Wholesale Stationers Association, Vice President of National Office Products Association, and was a delegate to President Carter?s White House Conference on Small Business in 1979. Locally Joel was a member of the board of directors of Mutual Federal Saving and Loan. Joel was a Mason. Raised in 1951, he maintained a membership in Benevolence Lodge #145 Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons until his death, serving as Worshipful Master in 1961. Other Masonic affiliations include Treasurer of the Masonic Temple Association and President and Treasurer of High Twelve Club. Active in his community, Joel was a member of the Noon Lions Club, serving as President in 1984-1985. In 1993 he was awarded the Lions International Warren Coleman Award. He also received the Lions International Melvin Jones Fellowship and the Rotary International Paul Harris Fellowship in 1995. Joel was extremely honored to have been selected for the Mason City High School Distinguished Alumni Award in 1998, the NIACC Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2001, the Mason City Chamber of Commerce Distinguished Citizen?s Award with Joyce in 2002 and the naming of the Hanes Wildflower Garden in Central Gardens of North Iowa with Joyce in 2005. Always having a supportive interest in the arts and education, Joel helped to ensure that the works of nationally recognized local artists were represented in Mason City. He was delighted that he could play his bass clarinet in the New Horizons Band the last year of his life. He also found great satisfaction in being a youth mentor for many years. As an appreciative alum, Joel also served on the NIACC Alumni Advisory Board. In recent years Joel?s business acumen, his care for and commitment to his community, and his great love and concern for the natural world came together in his work as a naturalist. He bought land in Lucas, Floyd, and Winnebago counties and restored prairies and wetlands. He and Joyce were recognized by Floyd County as Conservationists of the Year in 1999. As a board member of Iowa Nature Conservancy, he played a part in the purchase and preservation of the Hoffman Prairie near Clear Lake. He was the first chairman of the Cerro Gordo County Resource, Enhancement and Protection Committee and a delegate to the first REAP Congress. Appointed by Governor Branstad in 1990, he served six years on the Iowa Preserves Advisory Board. Joel was a founding board member of the Iowa Prairie Network and North Iowa Prairie Club. He was a part of a 1996 International Crane Foundation work/study group that studied black-necked cranes in China. Joel was a past president of the North Iowa Nature Club. Joel Hanes? life was a life well-lived. The memory of that life will be cherished and celebrated by his wife, Joyce Hanes of Mason City; children: Joel J. Hanes of Santa Clara, CA, Susan Helle and husband, Steven, of Fisher, IL, Ann Hanes and Carol Kelly of Mason City, Kay Ehlers and husband, Steven, of Cedar Park, TX and Linda Hanes of Mason City; grandchildren: Aimee Ehlers, Samantha Helle, Lynn Ehlers, John Ehlers, Stephanie Helle, and Samuel Hanes; brother: Edward Hanes of Clear Lake; sisters: Dorothy Stone of Nekoosa, WI and Barbara Roberts of Nauvoo, IL; sister-in-law: Ruby Reed of Reno, NV; many nieces and nephews; and special family friend, Chris Meckler of Mason City. Joel was preceded in death by his parents and a sister, Elizabeth Dunn. Memorials may be given to any one of the many organizations that forward the interests of Joel?s life. They may also be made to the Hospice of North Iowa whose loving care supported Joel and his family in his last months.

Visitation:
5:00 PM to 7:00 PM at 111 N. Pennsylvania Avenue on September 30, 2005 (map/driving directions) 3:00 PM to 3:00 PM at 111 N. Pennsylvania Avenue on September 15, 2005 (map/driving directions)

Service:
10:00 AM at on October 1, 2005 (map/driving directions)