Obituary: Joseph Leonard Dormer

JOSEPH LEONARD DORMER

1935 – 2024

Joe was a 3rd generation Cascade resident. After graduating from Cascade High School, he joined the Navy as an aircraft mechanic on an aircraft carrier. While stationed in Texas he met Diana Villarreal and they soon married and moved to Cascade. After an Honorable Discharge from the Navy, Joe went to work for Univac/Sperry Rand/Unisys where he spent his entire career as a Computer Engineer fixing mainframe computers. Joe and Diana had two daughters; Margaret Dormer-Steenson and Maureen Veitenheimer, both born in Great Falls, MT. After a few years in Great Falls, Univac transferred Joe to Seattle where he and his family lived until retirement. Upon retirement he and Diana moved back to the ranch at Dormer’s Corner. They eventually moved down the road to the Mortag Ranch, where they enjoyed having their family; Margaret, John, Allegra, CJ, Maureen and Tom visit them.

Joe enjoyed growing up in Cascade and had lots of fun including drag racing on Cascade Hound Creek Road (one time he didn’t make Dormer’s Corner, rolled the car and broke his back), driving up Cascade Butte to see how far he could go, hopping on railcars to go to Eastern Washington to work in the orchards and driving cars w/o brakes and pulling them out of the Missouri River. But there was also the time his dad caught him smoking cigarettes in the barn and made him smoke at least 1 full pack as a punishment. Joe got very sick, learned his lesson and never smoked again.

Joe, though a quiet and very responsible person, was also an excellent prankster. One of his favorites, back in the late 60’s, was when he would hide a speaker under the front porch on Halloween. The speaker was connected to a microphone in the house which he used to scare and talk to trick-or-treaters as they walked by. Joe had them scratching the grass because the house ghost had an itch, dancing in circles and other amusing actions. Then there was a realistic fake rat he would take to restaurants, which he would put on the table to scare the waitresses. As he got older, he was always looking to play another prank or do something funny. On the list to do was make a flying saucer out of satellite dishes, put it in one of the fields with a sign saying “UFO Parking Here”.

Thank you to the town of Cascade for keeping an eye on Joe. He loved it there.

Special thanks to:

Deb and the staff at The Driftwood. Joe loved The Driftwood and it became a second home for him.

Bob Lemire for checking on Joe every day and being a lifelong friend.

Mary Schrecengost and Mary Jane LaLiberty for their care of Joe. Without them he would not have been able to live on his own for as long as he did.

Kim Parker for sending us photos of Joe at The Driftwood when Joe should have been in bed asleep!

Clark Wombold for delighting Thunder the Wonder Dog with treats.

Dawn Dormady for always being there when needed.

Please join Joe’s family in celebrating his life and Thunders’s at The Driftwood on October 18, 2024 at 6:30 pm.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you consider making a donation in Joe’s name to the Cascade Rural Fire Department.