Mr. Joe Sam La Rue

Joe Sam La Rue. December 18th 1953 – January 14th, 2016. 62 years old. Port Huron, MI. Joe was born in San Diego, CA to Doris Jane Killough and Joe La Rue, growing up in both San Diego, CA and Las Vegas, NV. He joined the Marines in 1971 serving in Iceland saving people, homes and businesses from local volcanic eruptions and also served in Washington, DC where he is now forever showcased in two memorial paintings, one being the Vietnam War Memorial. In 1977 he married Margaret Allen in San Diego, CA and became a father to her son, Chad Jeremy Shettleroe. After getting married, Joe went on to serve in the reserves starting in Las Vegas, NV and then worked as a sheriff's deputy in Summit County, CO before heading to Oregon as he started his career in the Coast Guard. In 1980 in Tillamook, OR he and Margaret had a son, Marc Joseph La Rue. The family then moved to Frankfort, MI to serve as the last light-keeper of Point Betsie lighthouse. After the lighthouse went automatic, they moved to Lakewood, CA until 1988 when they moved to Plymouth, MI where they had a daughter, Sara Janelle La Rue. Later they moved to Port Huron, MI where Joe eventually retired from the Coast Guard as a Chief Boatswain’s Mate of the USS Bramble in 1996. After retirement, Joe joined the Immigration and Naturalization Service on the United States/Canadian Border in Port Huron for a few years before then working for ATF at Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Harrison Twp., MI. He maintained his employment there until recently. Throughout his years working for military and government based agencies, he received many awards including the highest peacetime coast guard medal for saving multiple lives in Tillamook Bay, OR. Joe was always friendly, outgoing and talkative. He was the type of person you could meet and immediately walk away feeling like you’d been friends forever; for this reason, he was incredibly popular and loved by all who knew him. For many years he spent his free time doing Living History Events with his closest friends. More recently, he enjoyed his time spent with local Marines that meet in Port Huron on Thursdays and spent his most recent years with the Michigan Volunteer Defense Group who met in Grayling, MI. We want to give special recognition to his friends working at Selfridge ANG who selflessly gave up their paid vacation time to him when he was no longer able to work, thus extending his income until the medical disability came in. He is survived by his wife, Margaret; son and daughter-in-law, Chad (Jessica), son and daughter-in-law, Marc (Peggy) and his daughter, Sara and his ten grandchildren: Xavier, Vincent, Chandler, Katana, Jade, Viviann, Gavin, Fayth, Aragon, and Echo. A Memorial Gathering will be held Sunday at the VFW Post 796, 1711 Pine Grove Ave., Port Huron from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Cremation arrangements by Jowett Funeral Home, 1634 Lapeer Ave. at 17th Street, Port Huron.

Mr. Joe Sam La Rue

December 18, 1953 - January 14, 2016