Joel Thomas Meriwether

Joel Thomas Meriwether was born November 29, 1932, in Shreveport, Louisiana, the third of three sons of Henry Ross Meriwether, Jr. and Cleo Lucille Fender.

 Joel attended high school in Shreveport and then Centenary College, also in Shreveport, where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in Journalism in May 1954. At Centenary, he was editor of the newspaper and yearbook and was a member of Omicron Delta Kappa, national honor leadership society.

 After his graduation that summer, he immediately enrolled in the Graduate School at the University of Missouri, Columbia, where he earned a Master of Arts degree in Journalism, in June 1956. Joel was a member of Kappa Tau Alpha, national honor journalism society and Sigma Delta Chi (later named the Society of Professional Journalists).

 Following Graduate School, Joel joined the U.S. Navy and was appointed to Officer Candidate School, in Newport, Rhode Island, leading to a commission as Ensign, in December 1956.

 From March 1957 to July 1958, Joel was assigned as Operations and Communications Officer of the USS WALDO COUNTY (LST–1163), an amphibious landing ship, which operated out of Little Creek, Virginia, near Norfolk. This tour of duty took him to various ports along the east coast of the United States and Canada, and one tour in the Mediterranean Sea. In June 1958, he was promoted to Lieutenant, junior grade.

Following his appointment as a Navy Special Duty Officer in Public Information, in July 1958, Joel served temporary duty with the Unified Command Information Bureau, United States Embassy, Beirut, Lebanon. Then, from October 1958 through January 1961, Joel served in the Office of the Chief of Navy Information, The Pentagon, Washington, DC. He served in the Internal Information Division and was a news briefer to the Chief of Naval Operations and his senior staff.

 In February 1961, Joel was assigned as Assistant Public Information Officer for the Eleventh Naval District, San Diego. While there, he was promoted to Lieutenant. Joel resigned from the Navy, in October 1962, after six years of active duty.

 During his time at the Eleventh Naval District, also working in the Public Information Office was Dolores Ann Dorsey. They began dating near the end of Joel’s tenure there and, after he left the Navy, they were married December 15,1962, at Saint Matthew’s Episcopal Church, National City, California.

 Following their marriage, Joel and Dolores moved to Los Angeles, where Joel worked as an account assistant for a public relations firm. In October 1963. Joel was contacted by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and offered a job as Assistant Public Affairs Officer, Mississippi Test Operations, in Bay Saint Louis, Mississippi. He held that post for about two years.

 While on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, the family lived in Pass Christian, Mississippi, near the NASA/MTO site. Joel Todd, their first son, was born in 1964, in Gulfport, Mississippi.

 The family always wanted to get back to California, so Joel applied for a job as Public Information Officer, Naval Ship Missile Systems Engineering Station, Port Hueneme, Ventura County, California, where he served from June 1965 until February 1968. While there, Craig Dorsey, the couple’s second son, was born in 1967, in Oxnard.

 Though already in California, the family was eager to return to San Diego, so in February 1968, Joel took a job as Public Affairs Officer, Naval Electronics Laboratory Center (later to be named the Naval Ocean Systems Center). He held that position for 20 years, retiring in June 1988, with 31 years of Federal service.

 Joel served as a volunteer for a number of organizations in San Diego, including:

 Member, Executive Committee, San Diego County Chapter, American Cancer Society, 1973–1981. 

Vestry, St. Dunstan’s Episcopal Church, San Diego, 1973–1975, Junior Warden 1974-1975. 

President, San Diego County Chapter, Public Relations Society of America, 1976.

Member, Board of Trustees, Senior Adult Services/Meals on Wheels, 1989-1991.

Chairman of the Communications Committee and the Editorial Board, Episcopal 

 Diocese of San Diego, for a number of years.

Chairman, Cursillo Secretariat, Episcopal Diocese of San Diego, 1991 and 1992. 

Member of the Standing Committee, Episcopal Diocese of San Diego, 1992–1996 

 Joel was an active member of The Meriwether Society, a family history organization of descendants of Nicholas Meriwether (1631–1678). He started the newsletter Meriwether Connections and was Editor from 1982 until mid–1994. He was President for the 1999–2001 biennium. Joel was named a Distinguished Member of The Meriwether Society in 1993.

 Joel is survived by his wife Dolores, sons Todd (Cheryl) and Craig (Kristina), grandchildren Rachel (Matt), Kevin (Colleen) and Tristan, and great grand children Wesley and Olivia.