Joel Covey

A beautiful soul left us on November 8th, 2019, at age 79.

My husband Joel, father of my three children; Diane, Brian and Michael, began his final journey home where he was greeted by his brother, Chris, and his father, Larry. He leaves behind his beautiful and talented granddaughter Charlotte, who brought him great happiness, his brother Jim and sister Geri, and his many nieces and nephews. He also left us with one thousand bad puns.

Joel loved his family, and we had the honor of walking with him as he begins his new adventure. Joel was a quiet man who loved his books, his classical music, and puttering around with his computers.

Our family lived in Massachusetts before Joel's work brought us to Madison, where he worked for Nicolet Instruments for many years, designing optical instruments for companies around the world, including NASA. My husband loved to write, and many times would tell me that he would love to write a novel before he died. But we knew better; his family was living that story every day. We were the story. I had the honor of walking with him for more than fifty years.

As most of us do, we had our ups and downs in life... but I like to think the ups far outweighed the downs. Joel was a good man, and a wonderful provider. We were the lucky ones to have had him in our lives.

As in all good reads, the story ends - I know I will see him again, in another time and place, where we will continue our walks together. Goodbye, Dear Heart.

Joel's wishes were to be cremated.