In today’s day and age, we move a lot. According to census data, the average American moves 11.7 times in their lifetime. For Joseph DeKever, there was only one place he ever wanted to live…his beloved Mishawaka. It’s where he was raised and where he raised his family; it’s where he built his life and it’s where he spent his last moments. Joseph loved the Princess City. 

Joe was born in Mishawaka on April 5, 1943. He grew up on Eighth Street, graduated from St. Bavo School and then Mishawaka High School in the Class of 1961. While attending IUSB, he was a part of the Catholic Young Adult organization. This group would organize Friday night dances at the Laurel Club in South Bend, as well as trips to the beach, Communion breakfasts and many other activities. It was through the Catholic Young Adults and a common class at IUSB that Joe met Mary Ann. On August 21, 1965, Joe and Mary Ann were married at St. Casimir Church in South Bend. “We used to tease that Mishawaka was the land of milk and honey,” Mary Ann said. “Because my friend met her husband, through us, at the same place.” 

Joe used to say that the sun rises sooner in Mishawaka. Perhaps that is why he decided to live his entire life in Mishawaka, minus a short month that he and his newlywed wife resided in a River Park apartment. They lived in a house on the north side when they added two boys to their family, Peter and then Andrew. In 1979, after their daughter Mary was born, they moved to a cozy neighborhood right off the river and called Linden Avenue home. He continued to root his life in his hometown as the children attended school in Mishawaka. He joined the Mishawaka Council, served on the library board, and wrote a column entitled Joe’s Jottings, which appeared in The Enterprise and for a short time in The Penny Saver. 

Joe loved sports. Most of Joe’s Jottings revolved around sports, such as the football forecast. His love of sports also led him and his family to the Olympics. “He was a big Olympics fan,” Mary Ann recalled. “We went to a lot of Olympics.” The first Olympics they attended was the 1976 Montreal Olympics. They were able to attend many after that: Lake Placid, Los Angeles, Calgary, Barcelona, Atlanta, Sydney, Athens, Beijing and London. Joe and Mary Ann truly enjoyed seeing beautiful areas of the world through travel to the Olympics and other international travel. Joe always wanted to come home. “We are in Mishawaka and we’re never moving anywhere,” Mary Ann recalled Joe’s words. “I’m never leaving our house on Linden Avenue.” 

This past January, Joe was clearing snow from their driveway when their daughter found him lying on the ground. He was speaking at that point, but everything progressed so quickly. The ambulance rushed him to Memorial Hospital and within the next few days, due to continual bleeding in the brain, the doctors shared with the family that recovery wasn’t likely. They offered a room on their hospice floor. “But Memorial Hospital is not in Mishawaka,” Mary Ann said. “I told them, Joe was born in Mishawaka, and he certainly did not want to die in South Bend.” That’s when a team of caregivers from Memorial Hospital and Center for Hospice Care worked together to make returning to his beloved hometown a reality. 

Joe was settled in a room at the Ernestine M. Raclin House, where within only a short time later, he passed away, surrounded by his loving family. “It was very worth it,” Mary Ann explained. “Our youngest son Andrew rode in the ambulance with Joe on his way to the Raclin House. He texted when they crossed over South Bend to Mishawaka.” For someone who loved Mishawaka so much, it was a true honor to allow his last moments to be at home. As L. Frank Baum wrote in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, “No matter how dreary and gray our homes are, we people of flesh and blood would rather live there than in any other country, be it ever so beautiful. There’s no place like home.”