Joseph F. "Joe" Davis, 86, of E-4976 Margaret St., Ironwood Township, died Tuesday morning, Sept. 2, 2008, in Ironwood. He was born Dec. 19, 1921, in Albuquerque, N.M., son of the late Thomas and Blanche (Saunders) Davis, and graduated from Alhambra High School in Alhambra, Calif. in 1937. He then served as an apprentice plumber and sheet metal worker in Los Angeles for five years. Joe proudly served his country during World War II in the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Marine Corps from 1942 to his discharge in 1945 in the Pacific Theater of Operations, receiving, among numerous medals and citations, the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star Medal for wounds received in action and valor. Following his discharge, he attended the University of Southern California from 1946 to 1950 and received a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering. He worked for Bechtel Corp. and for Natkin Corp. Worldwide Construction, then operated Davis Engineering for ten years in California, Portland, Ore. and Ironwood. In 1967, he received an MBA degree from Alexander Hamilton and the University of California. He retired and moved to Ironwood in 1980. Joe was a member and past elder of the First Presbyterian Church in Ironwood, and served on the Outreach, Mission and Property committees. A member of the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air Conditioning Engineers and the Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning National Association, he taught seminars at Ohio State University and the University of New Mexico on heat transfer and thermodynamics.He was a member and past secretary of the Ironwood Kiwanis Club, served on the Ironwood Planning Commission and the Board of Appeals, and was instrumental in the planning and construction of the P.J. O'Donnell Civic Center. He served as chairman of the Gogebic Range Solid Waste Authority and was chairman of the Gogebic County Veterans Council, and was a past member of Ironwood Elks Lodge No. 1278. He was named "Man of the Year" by the Ironwood Area Chamber of Commerce in 1983 and received the Edgar A. Guest Award from the State of Michigan for outstanding community service in 1989. He was an avid fisherman. Joe was married to the former Opal P. Carr on Dec. 31, 1941, at the Congregational Church in Boulder City, Nev. She preceded him in death on Jan. 24, 1998. He then was married to Jean Jindrich on Feb. 14, 1999, at the First Presbyterian Church in Ironwood, by the Rev. Francis Strong. Jean survives. Also surviving are a son, Michael (Cindy), San Jose, Calif.; eight step-children, Mark (Emily Newhouse) Jindrich, Calumet, Joan (Dennis) Oja, Carol (Tom) Herfort, and Linda (Morgan Grasso) Jindrick, all of Ironwood, Joe Jindrich, Clinton, Montana, Ted (Gail) Jindrich, Chicago, Lisa Jerome Wilson) Jindrich, Wausau, Wis., and Mary Jindrich, Boulder, Colo.; one grandchild, 18 step-grandchildren and one step-great-grandson; brother-and-sisters-in-law, Doug and Leta Carr, Live Oak, Calif., Helen Carr, Ironwood, and Claudean Carr, Ishpeming; and numerous nieces and nephews. Besides his parents and first wife, Joe was preceded in death by a brother, Richard; and a step-grandson, Justin Oja, in 1992. Funeral services will be held today, Thursday, Sept. 4, at 11 a.m., at the McKevitt-Patrick Funeral Home, 305 N. Lowell St., in Ironwood, with Dr. Jack Fashbaugh, commissioned lay pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Ironwood, officiating. A luncheon reception will follow at Manny's in Ironwood. Committal services and interment will be in Sunset Acres Cemetery, Ironwood Township. Friends may call at the funeral home this morning from 10 to 11 a.m. Memorial contributions may be made to the P.J. O'Donnell Civic Center or to the Gogebic Community College Nursing Program. To view Joe's obituary online, sign the guestbook and express condolences, visit mckevittpatrickfuneralhome.com. Arrangements are entrusted to McKevitt-Patrick Funeral Home Inc., Ironwood.