Joseph Zvolanek

Services for Joseph Joe Zvolanek, 95, of Temple, will be 11 a.m. Thursday, May 1, 2014, at Hillcrest Cemetery in Temple.

Mr. Zvolanek passed away peacefully Monday, April 28, still sharp as a tack until the very last minute of his life.

He was born August 4, 1918 in Temple, Texas to Joseph Zvolanek and Mary Ilnicka Zvolanek . He married Christine Bartek on March 15, 1944 in Belton, Texas. He owned the OK Coffee Shop for 30 years. A member in good standing for 71 years with the B.P.O. Elks, he was elected Exalted Ruler in 1958 and 1962. He attended 24 national Elks conventions and numerous state conventions and became an Honorary Life Member of Elks Lodge 138 in 1987. He was a formidable salesman, political critic, life expert, and popular honorable mayor of the Temple Mall. He was a staunch supporter of the historical value of Hillcrest Cemetery where he visited his wife and familys resting places daily from 1973 to 2009, mowing grass with a manual lawnmower until the age of 90 as seen on the front page of the Temple Daily Telegram in 2008. Joe lived through three depressions: one in Europe, the one in 1930, and this most recent one. He survived polio, skin cancer and all aspects of socialized medicine with a smile on his face and the motto that he can live through anything for a little while.

If you are trying to decide if you know him, you might recall his brothers donation of Czech marionettes at the Czech Heritage Museum. His story was that Walt Disney offered to buy them but Temple actually got them in the end. If you are an Elk, you would know that he started the collection of funds to get the first big screen TV in the lodge.

Mr. Zvolanek was preceded in death by his parents his wife, Christine and two brothers, Bob Zvolanek and Edwin Zvolanek.

He is survived by his son, Dr. Ervin E. Zvolanek and wife Nadine of Longview, two granddaughters, Renee Nikolai and husband Leonard of Dallas, and Melissa McAdams and husband Joel of Austin and three greatgrandsons, Pierce Nikolai of Dallas, Andrew McAdams of Austin, and Zachary McAdams of Austin.

Donations in Joe Zvolaneks memory may be made to the Elks Lodge 138, P.O. Box 33, Temple, Texas 765030033, so that they may continue to invest in their community through programs that help children grow up healthy and drug free, by undertaking projects that address unmet needs, and by honoring the service and sacrifice of our veterans.