Joel Andrew Tibbets

BURLEY – Joel Andrew Tibbets was born in Newport Beach, California, on the 26th of May, 1970 to Jonathan Stewart Tibbets and Mary Elaine Marsh. He came home to a family with an older brother and older sister. He was his mother’s fastest birth at ninety minutes from the time she discovered she was in labor to the time when the doctor said, “It’s a boy!” His nickname was Jody and he was a very active child. His parents called him a rabbit because he always grazed in the refrigerator for carrots or celery. He got into trouble at a young age for eating some broccoli out of a community garden. In pre-kindergarten he walked to and from the elementary school not far from home and on a rainy day worms were everywhere. He was so excited to show his mom all these earthworms that he stuffed them into his pockets. When he walked into the house, out of his pockets came his hands oozing with worms.

When Spencer was born, three year old Joel spent hours studying him. On one occasion he told his mother, “Girls are so lucky, Mom, because they can have babies.” Sometime later mom cried with joy as Joel left for his first day of kindergarten, his mother cried with joy to be relieved with a two-hour break each day.

The family moved from California to the Midwest when Joel was about five. Joel had one sister and five brothers. They all enjoyed wonderful times swimming in ponds, catching all sorts of creatures, including snakes and turtles. Much time was spent in the ponds capturing crayfish. His mother ran from them, but his grandma Donna would cook them up for him and his siblings. He was a swimmer from two years old and up. It may have been because he had a couple of webbed toes. After swimming one day in a pond, his mother gave him a bath and she was mortified when she saw leeches all over his legs. As he grew, he loved to snowboard, ski, mountain bike, and backpack with his father and siblings. At the age of 16 or 17, Joel worked at Lagoon in Farmington, Utah and saved all his money to buy a Burton Snowboard; and this is what started his passion for snowboarding. Joel discovered that the snowboard could be designed better. He had an idea and drew it up and sent it into the Burton Snowboard Company who actually implemented it and the founder of the company sent him a thank you letter.

Joel was a trooper. He was intelligent and had a can-do attitude for fixing things. When Joel and some of his brothers went into the mines of Eureka, Utah, something happened to the lantern and the mantles broke. However, in the absolute pitch black, Joel took it apart, put it back together, lit it, and it worked. All throughout his life Joel collected lanterns, Coleman stoves, and rescued cats.

Joel served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Leeds, England. He married the love of his life, Christina Boss, on March 18, 1995 in Bountiful, Utah. Together they have three sons. He learned to love photography from his wife and had dreams of helping Christina create a darkroom in each of their houses. Soon after marrying they returned back to California and Joel graduated from a trade school in Airframe and Powerplant. Their son, Andrew, was born in California.

He put his certification to good use for Millionair in Modesto, California. Then, he moved his family to Clinton, Utah and worked at the Salt Lake City International airport and then Hill Air Force Base. It was there that their other two sons, Ian and Gabe, were born.

Later, they moved to Idaho where Joel has been currently working at Budget Truck; first as a diesel mechanic and then as parts manager and assistant sales manager. He was the Jack-of-all- trades and surprised his fellow workers by installing an in-floor heating system in Budget Truck’s new building.

He valued family and got to really know his brother, Brian, while in Idaho. He was able to spend quality time also with his brother, Spencer, at the restaurant Kassiani. His other brother, Chris, would often stop by to see him on his way home to Boise. Often he called his sister to tell of the amazing treasures he found at the local thrift stores. Timmy has fond memories of Joel taking him out into the Great Salt Lake in a two-man sailboat. Joel influenced his brothers to love the Beatles, but Tim won the prize by inheriting all his Beatles vinyl records. He really appreciated Greg as a friend and could trust his expertise when Joel had HVAC questions.

After renting for two years, Joel was so excited to buy a home and make that first payment a couple of weeks ago. He had many plans to fix up and make the house a home over the years. The house was full of music and it followed him wherever he went. Whenever he could, he listened to it. Whether doing chores, going on a family drive, bar-b-quing out on the deck, music enveloped his life and accented all he did.

Everyone loved to be around Joel. He was a happy, go-lucky and go-to person, very reliable, always early for work and brought a smile to anyone’s face through his exuberance for life. He was able to put people at ease. He was always wanting to learn and was curious. He was always teaching himself something new. On a nature hike he would pick up a rock, a fossil, a leaf, or some kind of natural creation and study it for a long time. One of his favorite things to do on a nature hike was to pick a wildflower and give to his Christina. He was a voracious reader like his father. He could identify all types of wood and knew how to work with them and created many beautiful things, including harp chairs, trunks, and chess boards with their cases.

Joel always had to be busy tinkering, creating, and learning. There is a void now and it is felt by everyone, even people he doesn’t realize he has touched. No one can ever replace him. He left this world as quickly as he came into it on Monday, June 15, 2020. We love you, Joel, and we will sorely miss you!

Joel is survived by his wife, Christina Boss; his three sons, Andrew, Ian, and Gabe; his parents, Jonathan and Mary Tibbets; his siblings, Julie Greenman (David), Greg (Andrea), Spencer (Vilma), Brian (Keri), Chris (Che), and Tim (Christine); and many nieces and nephews who loved him.

A memorial service will be held for Joel at 1 p.m. Saturday, June 20, 2020 at Budget Truck in Heyburn, Idaho. We’d like to thank Jeff Rasmussen and Rasmussen-Wilson Funeral Home for the arrangements. Memorial donations can be made at the gofundme.com.