Owen Joy Slinkard passed away at his home in Fredericktown on September 20, 2026. Joy was born June 14, 1934, on a farm in Bollinger County, to Franklin Gale Slinkard and Lily Mae (Rhodes) Slinkard. He had one brother, Hobart Gale Slinkard, Jr. 

Joy graduated from Lutesville High School in 1951 and earned an electrical engineering diploma in 1967 from the International Correspondence Schools in Scranton, PA. He married Gerde Delores Denman of Marquand on February 26, 1955. They had one daughter, Dee Ann. 

Joy was drafted in 1957 and served two years in the US Army, stationed in Darmstadt, Germany. Following active duty, he served in the MO National Guard and the MO Air National Guard, from which he retired, after 34 years of service, as a Master Sargent. 

He worked for the City of Fredericktown in various capacities from 1959-1970 and 1981-1994, and at Black River Rural Electric Cooperative from 1970-1981. He retired in 1994 and he and Delores moved to St. Paul, MN to be near Dee Ann and her family. They returned to Fredericktown in 2014. 

Joy and Delores were full-time RVers from 1997-2004, spending their summers in MN and traveling the south and southwest regions of the US during the winters. Joy enjoyed hunting and fishing in his younger years, especially pheasant-hunting in South Dakota. 

Joy is survived by Delores and Dee Ann, and two beloved grandsons, Samuel Joy Eastwood (Jaclyn Blasch) and Erik Eastwood. 

No immediate services are planned; a celebration of life will be held at a later date.