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Photo of Joel D. Showalter

Joel D. Showalter

1/14/1982 - 12/31/2018


Obituary


Joel Showalter, 36, of Rockwell passed away Monday, December 31, 2018 at Muse-Norris Hospice Inpatient Unit in Mason City.

Funeral services for Joel Showalter will be held at 10:30 AM on Thursday, January 10, 2019 at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, 305 Elm Street East in Rockwell, Iowa with Father John Gossman and Pastor Bob Snitzer officiating. Burial will follow at Rockwell Cemetery in Rockwell.

Visitation for Joel will be held from 4:00 – 7:00 PM with a Scriptural Wake Service beginning at 7:00 PM on Wednesday, January 9, 2019 at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Rockwell and will continue one hour prior to services at the church on Thursday morning.

Joel David Showalter, Jr. was born January 14, 1982 to Joel Sr. and Yvonne (Reynolds) Showalter in Britt, Iowa where he was raised and educated. Following high school, he worked as a CNA at Westview Care Center, maintenance at Golden Oval, and he drove truck for Five Star Coop for a time.

In April of 2005, Joel began recovery for addiction. He was very proud of his sobriety and sponsored countless others on their journeys of recovery, and worked as a Clinical Assistant at Prairie Ridge in Mason City.

Joel was united in marriage to Katy Ingham on September 8, 2007 at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Rockwell. The couple made their home in Rockwell, where they are raising children Deven, Landon and Lily.

In 2007, Joel began working at Window World of Mason City, where he was awarded the Rookie of the Year award in sales in 2009 within a group of 11 stores in the Midwest. Later, he began working in installation and purchased the business in 2011. In 2013, Joel and Katy opened Window World of Southern Minnesota in Mankato. They were awarded Small Business of the Year by the Mason City Chamber of Commerce in 2016. In addition to operating the two businesses, Joel traveled around the country as part of the Window World Advisory Counsel.

Joel was well known for his willingness to help others in need, beginning with his part-time job as a CNA at Westview Care Center in Britt while in high school and through countless charitable efforts over the years. Window World has strongly supported St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee with its Window World Cares non-profit, having donated over $9.7 million to St. Jude’s since 2008, an effort Joel was very passionate about. He and Katy have helped to raise more than $275,000 since 2014 for St. Jude’s with their annual radio-thons and have supported the Veterans Airlift Command for several years. In 2014, Joel began participating in the annual Mason City Salvation Army Krugerrand auction, donating close to $20,000. Joel was also known to stop at every lemonade stand he came across, wanting to support young entrepreneurs, and often stopped to visit with and support those less fortunate than him, including homeless and other marginalized and disenfranchised people he came across. He was a strong supporter of community benefits & fundraisers, Crisis Intervention Service and youth sports organizations, including the Mason City Parks and Recreation.

In 2012, Joel was diagnosed with Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma, a rare type of cancer that had formed in his nasal cavity. Though this cancer is slow growing, it seldom goes into full remission. Joel was treated at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester and had a recurrence 18 months later, this time in his lungs. In 2015, the cancer had spread to his liver, and again, he was treated at Mayo. In 2016, the tumors in his lungs began to become more concerning, and Joel began clinical trials at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, traveling there for treatments every 2-4 weeks for the next two years. In July of 2018, following his last radiation treatment, he entered palliative care.

As passionate as Joel was for his career and charitable efforts, he was even more dedicated to his family. He loved spending time with them, whether attending the kids’ events, going fishing or traveling with Katy and the kids. Joel loved grilling and smoking for his family and friends, and he had mastered his smoked rib recipe. In 2013, Joel and Weston Koop built their first hobby stock race car. By 2015, Joel was behind the wheel of their second hobby stock, a lifelong dream that he and his family enjoyed for a couple of seasons.

Joel was headstrong and chased his goals and dreams with the same drive and determination he had for everything in his life.

Those left to carry on Joel’s legacy include his wife Katy and their children, Deven, Landon and Lily of Rockwell; his father Joel, Sr. (Stacey) of Britt; his sisters Shannon Robinson and her daughter Nia of Des Moines and Amy (Nate) Juhl and their children Levi, Haley and Gage of Forest City; grandparents Jim Showalter of Britt and Pat Showalter of Garner; step-brother Michael Trager and children Riley and Makayla; parents-in-law Karen Ingham and Richard Nuehring of Rockwell; sister-in-law Mary Ingham of Clear Lake; brothers-in-law Joe Ingham and children Jennifer and Joseph of Swaledale, Iowa, Tim (Margaret) Nuehring and children Taylor (Jake) Stille and family, Tyler and Carson of Rockwell, Doug Nuehring and children Kelli, Kyle and Kaci of Des Moines and Mark (Julie) Nuehring of Clive; along with numerous aunts, uncles, cousins, other relatives and friends.

Joel was preceded in death by his mother Yvonne Bird and step-father Roger Bird.