Okefenokee Joe Death, Obituary – Rest in peace Okefenokee Joe. We will make sure that they are well taken care of from where we are now positioned. The subject of where I first became interested in snakes is one that comes up very often in conversation with me. Now, at some point during the 1980s, perhaps in the middle to later part of the decade, an elderly man with a weird appearance came to our school to give a presentation on. He was known as “the crazy old man.”
He introduced quite a few species that were not native to our area in addition to the local ones that were already here. Personally, I thought it was pretty cool, but the bulk of the other kids didn’t want to have anything to do with it at all. They felt it was boring. I was the only person in the crowd who responded positively to his question at the very end of the performance, when he asked the audience if anyone would be willing to come up to the front of the stage to hold a snake.
As a direct result of this, I found myself in the position where I had a python wrapped around my shoulders and a huge rat snake in the palm of my hand. As a result of the performance, my fellow students spent the subsequent several days referring to me as the “crazy boy.” Okefenokee Joe was that crazy-looking old man, and he wanted to tell us about his life and his passion for the swamp in the hopes that we would get some of his knowledge. He wanted to tell us about his life.
As soon as I opened my eyes this morning, I noticed that Okefenokee Joe had passed away some time during the night. Be sure to maintain a high altitude while you make your way through the swamp, my friend. If it weren’t for what you did for me when I was a kid, I probably never would have acquired the passion that I do now, which puts me in a position to help other people in my community and within our shared circle of contacts.