Joe Lake, 57, of Batesville, IN, passed away on Wednesday, June 23 after a long battle with melanoma. He was born on December 2, 1963 to his proud parents Walter and Reba (Jones) Lake and spent his childhood in Centerville, Indiana. He graduated from Centerville High School in 1982. Joe was known for his amazing athletic ability although he also excelled in the classroom. During the 1980’s, Joe was simply known as “Joe Lake the Runner”. He received numerous awards and records for long-distance running in cross country and track. He went on to run at both Hanover College and the University of Southern Indiana where he continued to set and beat records! Finally, he received his MBA from Miami University in 1987.
Since graduating from Miami University, Joe spent more than 25 years with the Fortune 500 company Ashland Inc. in various Human Resources related roles. His most recent role before retiring due to health reasons was leading Human Resources globally for the Valvoline division. This position took him to many parts of the world and he would often share stories of his trips to China, Europe, India and more. He loved to meet new people and experience new cultures.
After retiring from Valvoline after 27 years, Joe worked as an independent contractor performing executive searches for the Satterfield Renzenbrink Associates. He really enjoyed establishing the company goals, assessing the talent, and then placing the talent in the correct roles as he executed the searches.
Joe was on many successful leadership teams including the Ashland Leadership Team, Valvoline Leadership Team, Board of Directors for the Ashland Credit Union, and Advisory Board member for Lithko Contracting construction business.
As successful as Joe was in his early life and professional life, his biggest role and proudest achievement is that of his family. Joe and Joy (Brown) Lake were married on August 11, 1990 and had almost 31 years of married happiness. They joyfully welcomed their only child, Alexandra Marie, into the world on May 21, 1993. It was often said you can’t better perfection, so she remains an only child. Joe and Joy did gain a son when Alexandra married Paul Johnson on July 7, 2018. The happiest role by far for Joe was becoming “Grandpa Joe” to his precious “Jonah boy”. A memory Jonah will always cherish is catching his first fish off Grandpa Joe’s dock! We know that Grandpa Joe is protecting grand baby number two who will be born in December.
Joe is grieved and remembered by so many friends and family. He will be sorely missed by his wife of 30 years, Joy, and his precious daughter, Alexandra Johnson along with her husband Paul and grand baby Jonah, and a future grand baby on the way. He is always beloved by his parents Walter and Reba Lake and they survive. His loving sisters are Tammi Poindexter (Steve) of Centerville, IN, Andrea Falkner (Craig) of Fairfield, OH, and Ginger Frye (Steve) of Columbus, OH. He is loved by numerous nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, cousins. Of course, we can never forget his many, many friends who have been by his side since childhood. He was preceded in death by both grandparents – Lt Walter E. Lake and Virginia R. Lake Eliason and Charles and Martha Jones.
Friends may pay their respects at Weigel’s Funeral Home in Batesville, Indiana from 4 – 7 pm on Monday, June 28th, with the funeral to be held 10 a.m. Tuesday June 29th, at St Louis Catholic Church with Rev. Stan Pondo officiating. A luncheon will follow at the Knights of Columbus where Joe’s friends and family are encouraged to share their thoughts, stories and happy memories.
Interment will be in Joe’s hometown at Crown Hill Cemetery in Centerville at 2 p.m. Tuesday. As it is quite a distance from Batesville, we understand that many of our friends and family will attend in thought only. Contributions may be made to the Joe Lake Athletic Scholarship with the Ripley County Community Foundation.