Joe Richard Hastings

The world lost a great American and Texan when Joe Richard Hastings slipped beyond the gate of this life into the arms of his Lord on February 17, 2014. Joe was born in Dimmitt, Texas on October 15, 1925 and lived all of his life in Texas except for brief stints in Oklahoma and Colorado. His friends and family sorely miss his unique spirit.Joe was born a sensitive boy with an open heart that was tempered by a hard youth growing up in the Depression, farming through the Dust Bowl, and the trials of World War II. His hardened sensitivity created a man of many contradictions that kept his family on their toes. Men like Joe are rare in today’s world; a man of integrity, grit, orneriness, and dry humor. He admired men like General George Patton, the courageous characters played by John Wayne, and President Ronald Reagan. Joe loved music from Beethoven and Mozart to Hank Williams, German polka and Cajun zydeco.As a young man Joe left the family farm to fulfill his duty in World War II. He was a tank commander in the 2nd Armored Cavalry Division of the United States Army and was stationed at Fort Bliss before deploying to Germany. One of his memories of the war, a story he told every year on Christmas Eve, is the Christmas Eve he spent in Freising, Germany and stumbled upon a chapel where he sneaked in the back of the church to participate in the worship service. Joe was proud of his military service but always wondered if he should have joined the fight sooner than he did. After the war Joe returned to the Panhandle and attended Texas Tech on the GI bill. He graduated with a petroleum engineering degree in 1954.He spent his entire career as a petroleum engineer for Atlantic Richfield/ARCO. He was the engineering manager for the company’s first hydraulically fractured well in 1957. Although Joe was an accomplished engineer and provider for his family, he always longed for the wide-open spaces of the Panhandle. In the early days he would travel all night on the weekends from his office in Corpus Christi to work on the family farm in Dimmitt. Joe later moved into ranching where he achieved one of his lifelong dreams: to run a cow-calf herd of registered Polled Herefords. In the drought of 2011 he sold his herd to another cow-calf operation, but kept one of the cows to which he had become particularly fond. He also loved pheasants and would go to great lengths to leave part of a field unplowed if they were nesting nearby. Joe looked forward to celebrating his ranch’s 100th anniversary.His family was the most important part of Joe’s life. He was dazzled by Martha Murray when they met and they were married in 1960. They enjoyed traveling together and made numerous trips all over the world. Joe and Martha had two daughters, Kathleen and Marilu. Joe showed his daughters the splendor of the natural world and enthusiastically guided them on summer trips to most of the national parks. He taught his girls that they were capable of great things and supported them unconditionally. Sometimes he was astonished when they were successful. In 2005 Joe and Martha were blessed with the birth of their only grandchild, Elena Fe. Joe loved her more than he could ever imagine and regretted not getting to see her grow into a lovely young woman.Joe was loyal and would go out of his way to help friends in need, yet sometimes he seemed to have tragically lost his belief in the goodness of people. The kindness shown to him proved that there is still compassion and love in the world. Joe died with the realization that Jesus Christ was waiting for him and that he would be reunited with all those he held dear. He was preceded in death by his parents Joseph Wallace and Mary Jane Hastings, his brothers Alvin and Odus, his sister Betty, and his son-in-law Mitchell Mathis.Joe is survived by his devoted family: his wife Martha Hastings of Midland, daughter Kathleen Hastings of Baton Rouge, daughter Marilu Hastings Mathis of Austin, granddaughter Elena Fe Mathis, and sister Dorothy Gantt of Pickens, South Carolina. Numerous cousins, nephews, nieces, in-laws and friends also remember Joe fondly.The family wishes to thank Dorothy, Maria, April and Amber and all the staff at the Yellow Rose Christian Home for their support and care of Joe.In lieu of flowers the family requests that memorials be considered to the Friends of Big Bend National Park, PO Box 200, Big Bend National Park, Texas 79834 or the Castro Memorial Gardens Cemetery, PO Box 452, Dimmitt, TX 79027.The funeral service will be held at 4:00 pm on Friday, February 21, 2014 at Nalley-Pickle and Welch Funeral Home in Midland, Texas. Graveside services will be held Monday, February 24 at 11:00 am at Castro Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Dimmitt, Texas.,