Joseph Benjamin Lovelace

Joseph Benjamin Lovelace died on April 23, 2023, after a long struggle with Alzheimer’s disease at age 93.

He was born December 22, 1929 to Ludora Hawkins and Andrew Lovelace in Alexandria, Virginia. Joe was the youngest of thirteen children and the first of his brothers and sisters to complete secondary education. He graduated early at sixteen and took a job carrying water at a construction site in Washington D.C. to help support his family. The buckets probably weighed as much as he did. Always one to work smarter, not harder, he tried to join the Air Force but was denied due to his age. But an Army recruiter who overheard his situation asked if he had a birth certificate. When Joe said he didn’t, the recruiter just happened to “find” one that made Joe eligible for service.

Joe spent four years in the Army fighting in the Korean War during the desegregation of the United States military forces. He left the Army at the end of his required enlistment time and got a job bagging groceries on Andrews Air Force base. Once again, Joe decided to work smarter and soon left that job to join the Air Force where he served for 25 years, 8 months, and 2 days. While in the Air Force, he was stationed in Vietnam, Thailand, and Germany before returning Stateside. He moved his family to Aurora, Colorado, and ended his military career at Lowry Air Force Base.

Joe retired from the military in his late forties. Not one to rest on his laurels, he decided to go to school and earned a Bachelor’s degree in Criminology. To pay the bills, he got a job with the Postal Service and worked with them for another decade before retiring again. In retirement, Joe continued to serve his community by volunteering as a probation officer and assisting the Aurora Police Department.

Joe was preceded in death by one son, Victor Lovelace, and twelve brothers and sisters: Obie Lee Lovelace, Seville Lovelace, Kate Virginia Lovelace Scott, Carrie Bell Lovelace, John (Buck) Lovelace, Albert Lovelace (Jr.), Alice Lovelace Bass, Willie James Lovelace, Clarence Lovelace, Charlie Wilson Lovelace, Christine Lovelace Coard and William Henry Lovelace.

He leaves to cherish his memory, his wife, Elke Lovelace, one son, Peter Woeber, and three daughters; Wanda Ned, Esther Jackson, and Patty Lovelace.

Services will be held at Queen of Peace Catholic Church on May 1st, 2023 with Burial at Fort Logan National Cemetery the same day.

The Family would prefer any flowers to be purchased through Ed Moore Florist.