Joe Battiest

Funeral services for Joe Battiest, 76, Lawrence, will be at 2 p.m. Monday at Rumsey-Yost Funeral Home. Burial will follow in Oak Hill Cemetery.Mr. Battiest died Thursday, June 26, 2008, at his home.He was born April 14, 1932, in Hugo, Okla. He attended schools in Hugo. He moved to Lawrence in 1957.Mr. Battiest joined the Oklahoma National Guard at the age of 17 and later joined the U.S. Army, where he served in Korea and earned the Combat Infantry Badge, Korean Service Ribbon with Combat Star, Army Occupation Medal and United Nations Service Medal. He later served four years in the U.S. Air Force and was honorably discharged in 1957. He worked in HVAC for the University of Kansas and retired after 25 years of service. He was a member of the Choctaw Tribe, Lawrence Masonic Lodge 6, and Abdallah Shrine of Overland Park.He married Dorothy Spencer. They divorced.Survivors include two nephews, Robert and Jesse Hardy, both of Lawrence; a niece, Alfreda John, Mississippi; his companion, Jeanne Johnson; and many great-nieces and nephews and great-great-nieces and nephews.Friends may call from noon to 9 p.m. Sunday at the funeral home, where the family will receive them from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Sunday.The family suggests memorials to the National Kidney Foundation of Kansas and Missouri, sent in care of the funeral home.Online condolences may be sent at www.rumsey-yost.com.