Here's Joel Obituary...
Joel was a 12-year senior
and a 2001 graduate of Colville High School. During grade school
and into junior high school, he was active in wrestling, soccer,
track, Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts. While in high school, his
activities focused towards his love of cars and the outdoors. His
time outdoors was spent fishing, camping, riding four-wheelers and
snow boarding. His love of cars was shown in the restoration of his
1985 Chevy S-10 pickup truck, which he chose as his Senior Project,
and his high school job working at Carey’s Auto Body. After
graduation he went to work at the Colville Do-It Center and most
recently had worked for six months as a forklift driver at Vaagen
Lumber Co. Joel was very helpful to others and enjoyed spending
time with his family and friends. He always put 100 percent of his
heart into whatever he did and his love of life maintained that
infectious smile. He will be remembered for his loving nature,
charm, and abilities as a woodworker and a “car
horse.”
The first set of
coordinates will take you to a park like cemetery where Joel, my
good friend, was laid to rest. For all you non cemetery cachers,
there is no physical cache here. Visiting this spot will be no
different then visiting a loved one. I think Joel would have loved
this idea of all you geocachers coming to see him. I got permission
and ideas from Joels family to do this cache. They have visited the
cache and really enjoyed seeing the logs and what people had
written. They will continue to check on it.
Once you have found the right location, complete the number
plug-in to get the coords to the final and physical cache. First,
convert the dates to numerical form, i.e. 01/23/4567 After
you’ve done that, you’ll have two numerical dates, a
(b)irth and (d)eath date. Now for the plug in:
b: ___ ___ / ___ ___ / ___ ___ ___ ___ = AB/CD/EFGH
d: ___ ___ /___ ___ / ___ ___ ___ ___ = IJ/KL/MNOP
North: BG*3C.3PB= N___ ___*3___.3 ___ ___
West: CIL* 5B.IGB= W ___ ___ ___* 5 ___. ___ ___ ___
At the second location, you’ll need to park somewhere
on Mantz Ricky rd.. This location is near a busy Hwy on the safe
side of the guard rail, but be alert and mindful. Here is where
Joel was involved in a car accident. He was a passenger in a car
heading northbound on Highway 395 early on a Sunday in a 1994 Ford
Escort when the vehicle went broadside after crossing the
center-line. The vehicle rolled several times, and traveled up a
rock embankment before landing on the driver’s side,
according to the WSP report. Joel was ejected, he was not wearing
his seat belt.
This cache is so dear to my heart. I miss my friend
every single day. There's so much more I wanted to
tell and share with him. He was the first guy I ever held hands
with. Joel loved the 'hint', and after he passed away, his family
and friends all clung to the symbol as a little remembrance of him.
Thank you to those of you who complete this cache. I hope you enjoy
it and I hope this cache gets lots of attention. Thank
you!!!!
Congratulations Cyn-d for
FTF