Joseph "Joe" L. Banken, Jr., 69, of Fairmont, died on Sunday, July 5, 2020. He was the son of the late Joseph L. Banken, Sr. and the late Willie Newberry Banken. His surviving relatives are his daughters, Mourine and Jennifer of Evansville, IN, and his sister, Joan Schroering of Fairmont, WV. Born in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, at the age of three, he moved with his family to Owensboro, KY and grew up there. He graduated from Owensboro Senior High School in 1969 and completed one year of studies at Brescia College in Owensboro.

After the death of his mother, he and his father moved to Fairmont, WV. Joe liked working at the Opportunity Workshop in Fairmont where he made many friends. He lived at Eastview Unity Apartments and the family would like to extend their thanks to the good people there, and especially the building's service coordinator for helping him to live independently for all those years. He also made frequent trips to the Dollar General Store for supplies, as well as to the kind people at the Food Pantry, where he enjoyed sharing his jokes. Joe was well known for his joke telling, collecting many books of jokes over the years, many of which were gifts from people who knew how much he enjoyed telling jokes.

Gifts and remembrances for Joe may be sent to the Union Mission or the Soup Opera. The memorial services will be private. Arrangements are under the care of Domico Funeral Home, 414 Gaston Avenue Fairmont, WV 26554. Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.domicofh.com.