Joseph Potter
d. September 29, 2017
Joseph “Mr. Joe, the Barber” Potter passed away peacefully at home in Mandeville, LA on Friday, September 29, 2017. He was born in October, 1943 to Russell and Bonita Potter in Bay City, Mich. He is survived by Janet Westover, his partner and wife of 32 years, his first wife, Donna Rae Medina and their two children: Jennifer Jackson of Key West, FL and Russell Potter of Silverton, OR. He had 4 grandchildren – Sierra of Enon, LA, Samantha of Panama City, FL, Michayla of Phoenix, AZ and Joseph of Silverton, OR. He also had 3 great-grandchildren: Blaize, Madison and Atlas. He was an amazing parent and grandparent who will be greatly missed.
His childhood was spent in the swamps of the Indian River of northern Michigan where he learned to fish, hunt and race small power boats. After high school he tried college but then went to barber school. When threatened with the draft, he joined the Navy Hospital Corps in 1966 to become a medic. He served honorably during the Vietnam conflict and upon separation tried several jobs including cosmetology, painting and toolmaking. He settled on nursing school and received his B.S. in Nursing at Lake Superior State College in Sault Sainte Marie, MI. Nursing was a good fit for him as it allowed him to help others as well as travel to see the world. He held nursing jobs in Michigan and Georgia; he served with Indian Health Service where he ran clinics on Navajo and Apache reservations. He also managed a clinic in a medium-security prison. His last jobs were in psych nursing in Texas, Nevada, California and Louisiana.
Joe and Janet loved to sail. In 1993 they left California to voyage to Louisiana in their 32’ sailboat visiting the west coasts of Mexico, Costa Rica and Panama, then on thru the Panama Canal, the Caribbean to Mandeville, LA. Upon arrival, Joe went to work at Greenbriar Hospital in Covington until they closed. Then he opened the Olde Tyme Tonsorial Parlor (barber shop) in Mandeville which he owned and ran until just before his death.
Joseph Potter was a quiet man who helped many people and mentored many young men. There will be a Celebration of Life for him on Saturday, October 21 at 325 Reine St., Mandeville, at 4pm. Please bring chairs and a willingness to share your memories of this fine man.