Joe Lane, 51, a native of Clearwater, died October 30th at Morton Plant Hospital, the same hospital he was born in. As a 16 year old, he moved to Eagle River, Alaska and worked a number of jobs including building a church. He came back to the Tampa Bay area and graduated from Clearwater High School in 1987, earned his Bachelor degree from the University of Phoenix and a Masters in Computer Information Systems from Florida Institute of Technology. Joe was considered an expert in IT and cyber security. In the late 1980’s he worked for Jim Rudolph at National Cremation Society and was considered such a gifted technical operator of that sophisticated equipment that the manufacturer hired him to work in the Orlando home office. After college he worked for Symantec and Unisys Corporation.
He was a long time member of Clearwater First Assembly of God and was a current member of Christ Community Presbyterian Church, Clearwater.
He was predeceased by his mother, Ann Lane, his sister Wanda McCauley and his brother Bill Lane.
He is survived by his wife, Jenny Doyle Lane, his father, Bill, and his brothers Tim, Steve, Carl & Dennis.
Visitation will be Thursday, November 8th at 10am at Christ Community Presbyterian Church, 2310 Nursery Road, Clearwater. The funeral will start at 11am conducted by Re. Bob Brubaker.
Please sign his guestbook and share a memory below.
My friend Joe. You were smart. You had a huge sense of humor. You had courage. (not many 16-year-olds head west to Alaska.) You loved other people. You took care of your mom. Thanks for giving Joel your best advice, your views, on his life questions. I wish you had lived to see his “Tiny Home” in Austin. You won’t be forgotten, and every time we say your name, the storytelling will begin.
I will miss you my friend. Especially our talks about the Upper Peninsula and your kinda sorta wish to move there one day for the hunting and fishing. You will be missed at work more than ever. You left us way too soon buddy.
Jamie
I am so very sorry for the loss to the Lane and Wilcox families. May God bring you comfort and peace.
This seems so unreal too me…. Mr. Joey was so good with me and my brother’s! We had the best fun ever, knowing him from our after school program (Latchkey)! He was just a bigger kid to us 😂 but he also taught us so much, especially about God…. He just meant so much too us as kids and I know he would be proud of us! Condolences too his wife and family, he will be truly missed!!!!
I can’t remember the moment that I met “Joey” Lane, but it was during my junior year in “Dunamis”, our youth group at First Assembly. Beyond that, I just know that somewhere along the way we quickly became very close friends. Joey would be found at our dinner table a few times during the week, and I can still hear his boisterous call out of “Hey, Ma, what’s for dinner?” as he would burst through our front door (always without a knock lol). More than a few of those times he was in his white shirt and black tie, with the white work van parked out front. We learned not to ask if he was coming or going from a pick-up.
Joey became more like a brother to me than simply a friend. We spent hours and hours talking about our futures, the different girls in our lives, and ultimately the deeper things of our walks with God. Opinions and advice were thrown back and forth like a football, always with that knowing that God had something more for each of us. I went off to Paraguay and he went off to college, then came marriage and families and other things that filled life up.
We reconnected just before he and Jennifer got married, and it was like no time had passed at all. And as we would weave in and out of each other’s stories after that, it was always with that same kindredness God had developed between us when we’d first met. More recently it had been visits together to different churches or restaurants, long talks over coffee, or catching up via text or email. Always with that same undertone of God doing something bigger in our stories than we could sometimes express in words.
Joey, it’s hard to imagine that you’ve made it into His presence before me. I hope my mom yielded to yours when it came time for your first meal up there — but I can only imagine you burst through those pearly gates with that same cry, “Hey, Ma, what’s for dinner?” I’ll miss you, brother.
Hey Joe,
I just wanted to say “thank you for the laughter ” you always seemed to know when I needed a boost, always looking out for others .
You were a big part of my teenage years and one of the first to welcome me to Dunamis ..we lost contact over the years but I want you to know that you will be missed and I know that you are watching over all of us from your glorious mansion.
Love you my friend
Lynn Kirkland (Johnson )
Joe, I only knew u for a short time, through the ccpc and you became like a brother to me, kind and wise, very sweet, strong in the faith, and I will sorely miss you. I only met Jennifer once, but my heart goes out to her as she tries to build her life without you.
We are so saddened to hear that our precious cousin has passed. We will miss him so much. Thoughts and prayers sent to his wife and family members during this time of loss. Condolences sent to the rest of the families.
Very sorry for your loss, my condolences to you and you family.
I worked with Joe at WellCare, he is such a funny guy, full of personality, and he has such a big heart.
I am saddened to hear of his passing. Wishing you strength and prayer through this difficult time.
Jennifer my heart goes out to you! You are in every thought and prayer. Love you
Joe, you will be missed. Thank you for bringing your dad to see us and sharing the good times. Our love and prayers to the family and friends as you walk through this valley.May God bring comfort and peace to you at this time. Uncle Bucky and Aunt Shirley.
I am very sorry for your loss, my condolences to you and your families. May God bless all and bring you peace and comfort.
It’s amazing to me how much my heart has been breaking over the loss of Joey Lane. As I’ve been processing this and praying on it, I’m beginning to figure out why this hurts so much. First, I’m SO heartbroken for his lovely wife, Jennifer. I remember when she and Joey first started dating and he told me about her. He was exuberant and obviously adored her! I’d not met her personally in all this time, but we are connecting now during this time of loss, and I can already tell she is everything wonderful Joe said she was and more! I’ve been interceding in prayer for you, Jenny! Only God knows exactly what you are feeling, so I’m connecting my heart with His on your behalf in this time!
Next, it’s a profound feeing knowing that one of “our own” from the Dunamis youth group…a peer, a friend, someone our own age who shared life experiences with us…who knew us and grew up with some of us, shared in dreams and encounters with God and more… is actually gone. Joey is not the first around our age from his childhood church to go, or from my life in general… but this one seems to hit so much closer to home for me and has me numb, in pain, and has my mind and heart filled with emotions I’ve not encountered in quite this way before.
Finally, Joey Lane was someone I was extremely, wonderfully and even frustratingly close to on and off for over 10 years of my lifetime. Most significant in that is the fact that they were formative years, and he was a significant part of my own growing up in every way. I met him when I was 13 years old. We both had the hand of God on us already in some very significant ways, but we were also both a hot mess in others. We only really saw one another at church or youth trips for the first several years of our friendship, but we clicked from the start. He was funny, loud and bold, but I also saw a sensitive, tender and even insecure side from the start as well. I think he saw the same in me, and though we were just silly, awkward adolescents, we began to be “kindered hearts” on some level too, though we didn’t actually admit that till we were a bit older. In our senior year of high school we both attended Clearwater Largo Christian School. We’d each had a tough year previously and this place was our refuge where we could get ourselves together and finish high school. This was also a time when God called us each individually to deeper surrender to Himself and we both, in our own ways, began to discover our deepest passions, goals and callings. We’d talk and contemplate these things for hours. We’d let one another in on many of the twists and turns of the wonderful adventures God was weaving together for our lives… some we lived out together, and some apart, but always growing closer to God and His purpose at about the same pace…with a few bumps and setbacks along the way, but ever moving forward and ever eager to share and connect on each season or phase as we passed into the next, enduring great pain together in some and great joy in others.
By young adulthood, Joey Lane was the closest of friends to me. I could share anything with him and he with me! We forged close friendships with others in our youth group, who to this day are those closest to my heart and were closest to Joey as well! These are the people who, no matter what we do or where God takes us in life, they will always be family to us! Joey’s boundless energy and zest for life was contagious, though sometimes embarrassing or irritating too, but mostly (at least for those who loved him most) contagious. He spurred some of us on into times of adventure and me personally to not only finish high school, but to study so hard I graduated 3rd in my class from college, became president of the Honor Society, began to experience areas of my calling with kids, and just to all around kick fear in the butt and go boldly into that which God was calling me to! Man, do I wish I could actually tell him now how much he influenced me, but I’m not sure I fully realized it till now because it all flowed so naturally, or supernaturally into what I think we all knew was God’s design for all of us in our earlier years.
In this time that we mourn our corporate family loss, I’m learning what treasures those from that season in life all really are to me. How good it is to grieve not alone, but together. Now we welcome Joey’s beloved Jenny into our hearts as well… if we have not already! I regret I have only spoken with Joey a few times over the past 20 plus years and that I had not met Jenny till now over texts and messages. At the same time, I rejoice that we come together now, as if no time has passed at all. Welcome one another into our hearts, our memories, our love and our grief for our beloved brother, friend and love. Jenny, I pray I may now call you sister. You were beloved by Joey, so you are beloved by me as well. I’m sorry it took so long! I pray that as your journey with Joe enters a season of being apart in body till the day you may see him in heaven again, it might be a new journey for some of us who have shared a piece of our hearts with Joey. I’d love to hear about his life as a “grown up” as we move forward in the days and years to come. I’ll cry, smile, laugh, scowl, eye roll, sigh, reminisce, beam with pride and rejoice in the Lord over the incredible (and incredibly complex) man that shared your heart and some part, big or small, of many other lives as well! He is already GREATLY missed, but we are so thankful for all we have learned from him and shared with him during his life and are now learning and sharing in his passing as well!
God bless you dear Jenny, and all the same thoughts and prayers to Timmy and the rest of Joey’s family as well!
My work brother, it was to soon. I met Joe in 2001, we worked at Veritas/Symantec. Joe was well spoken and did not shy away when something needed to be corrected. I sat next to Joe for 4 years. I spent more time with Joe in those 4 years than anyone including my immediate family. We had a strong successful team. Joe, Chris Caldwell and I formed a strong bond, at work we formed the Triumvirate, in a large organization of over 100 sales people, we were viewed as leaders and respected, sometimes feared, in a good way. In our group we were joined by Scott Baker, Jennifer Steiner, Garret Durham, Andy Rilling, Phill Swim, and others. We were known as hecklers row. We had a lot of fun, people would walk way out of their way to avoid hecklers row. Our performance as a team was second to none. VP’s came and went, we kept on performing. JOE was a brilliant cog on our team, and he was very funny. Joe had many terms we affectionately called Joe-isms, things like wear down, high level, Thompson-Thompson, beat it, I would do anything for a sale, but I won’t do that, you get what you get, no me Jodas mas (Joe’s favorite Spanish term) and many others.
Joe and I had many debates, we discussed politics, religion, social issues, and our favorite sports. I never once questioned his friendship or loyalty. Joe was very funny, and he loved Cuban black beans and rice which my wife would gladly make for us.
Joe and I shared many triumphs at work, we also shared in some tough times, we were together when 911 happened, I will never forget that day. Joe was a Gator, I am a Hurricane, but we made it work. I learned a lot from Joe, I hope he learned from me also. I know he did learn some colorful Spanish words from me.
As life happens all of us went our separate ways, we all went in different career paths. I relocated and so did Joe, we kept in touch, but I did not see him as much as I wanted. Joe is in a better place now, and my condolences go to Jennifer and his family.
I’m missing you so much Unky Doery… I finally get to a time in life where I could be able to visit so much more, and now you are gone. It’s just still not real.
I am terribly said to learn that Joe is no longer with us. I worked with Joe for several years as a sales partner. I found that Joe never held back and always spoke his mind. He convinced me to hire him in a 10 min conversation when I was dead set on hiring another candidate. He realized that I was disengaged in the conversation and went on the attack – well done Joe! Lucky for me we spent a lot of time together and had a lot of great conversations. Joe loved Jenny and he knew he was the lucky one in the relationship. We had a chance to play in a customer golf tournament and instead of inviting clients we brought our wives. We played and Jenny and Lynn drove the carts. Joe approached the game with his typical humor; talking on his back swing and doing the “Happy Gilmore” drive shot – lots of laughs that day! Joe had a lot of jobs over the years and if you heard the stories they were not the ones to be forgotten. Joe had a great way about telling his sometimes unbelievable stories which may horror some, but always leaving you laughing. Joe and I shared the love for grilling. We swapped pictures of what was on the grill. The highlight for me was what he was cooking on Thanksgiving! I will miss you Joe, you had a very huge impact on me.
My heart goes out to the Lane family. Joey was a kind and intelligent man who put family first. We met 36 years ago at First Assemby of God in Clearwater.
Blessings and Hugs,
Karol Kinnecom Holiday
So very sorry for your loss. Joe was such a great guy and I have so many fun memories with him.
I can’t remember him without a smile…he was always one to light up the room and entertain.
He often regaled us with his crazy stories from working at the funeral home and other crazy adventures.
I know he will be greatly missed, but remembered with great fondness.
Sending my love to the family from North Carolina. Wish I could be at the memorial.
Love you all.
A-
I met Joe Lane in 2001 when I began working for Veritas Software. Joe was assigned to be my mentor and we quickly became good friends. Over the next few years Joe and I worked together and even shared a house in Lake Mary for a year. Joe had a sharp intellect, was very well spoken, and had a great sense of humor. I treasure the time we spent laughing at the world around us and the absurdity we both observed. Joe was instrumental in motivating me to go back to school and finish my degree. The success in my career is directly attributable to Joe’s coaching. There was a time when I had a protracted illness. Joe was one of the first to call to help raise my morale and motivate me to get back on track. There are countless memories of good times shared with Joe. Even though we later went our separate ways we spoke often by phone and always made plans to get together in the future. I will never forget Joe, he was a unique and special person. He had a big heart and cared deeply for his friends and family. Joe was a friend and a brother.
I first met Joey at the age of 14 at Dunamis youth group. In his youth he was the life of the party: funny, loud, highly intelligent and opinionated to a fault…Looks like from a lot of the comments on here that he was pretty much the same as an adult. One could trust Joey to push the issue just far enough to get into trouble and then charm his way right out of any consequences. One of my very first jobs was working at the crematorium with Joey. I look back on those days and can’t help but smile. How wonderful to read these comments and learn of the legacy he left and the lives he touched. If Joe could speak to us right now he’d say something saucy like, “You know, you can’t threaten a Christian with Heaven.” And as always, he would be absolutely right! Our deepest condolences to Jenny, Tim and the rest of the family. May grace and peace surround you like a blanket in the coming days and may you rest in the knowledge that Joey will never be forgotten. He lives on in our memories and in the blessed hope we have to see him again someday.
~Dani and Mark Brink
Springfield, Missouri
My wife Laura and I had the privilege of serving as Joey’s youth pastors at First Assembly of God Church, Clearwater and Joey was a great support to us and even as a young teenager was so full of passion and great potential which he would see realized in his adult life. Joey was full of life and passion for life and especially for his family, friends and for the Lord. He was never afraid to speak out but always had a great respect for those that loved him and helped him along the way. Though the years have separated us in close relationship, what stands out to me the most was Joey’s involvement in our missions trips to Paraguay. He was engaged, enthused, and put out such an amazing effort to help in that mission endeavor. His love for the Lord was made evident in his love for people and a willingness to minister. His joy was a contagion and his presence was filled with the ability to change the atmosphere of wherever he was. His passing was a painful surprise to us but the joy that sustains us is that where Joey IS is now our hope and promised destination for those who know the God that Joey so faithfully served and loved. Our love and prayers to all the friends and family of Joey. Joey, we will see you again!
To Jenny and her family. I am so sorry for your loss. My Childre also send their condolences. They were with you At First Assembly when you were in youth group.
Then are Becky Antaya Jeanty and Debbie Antaya Oriel Our condolences to Timmy also;
God Bless you All,
Linda Antaya
My deepest condolences to both Lane & Wilcox families. May God bring peace and comfort to all of you.
Debbie Mims
(Tim’s friend)
I am so very sorry for this great loss. This is way too soon! Joey was an incredible, loving, and humorous friend. We spent time together as teens with mutual friends and attended the same church for years. Sadly, we lost touch through the years. To his wife, Jennifer, whom I have never had the privilege of meeting, my heart aches for you and I pray God’s comfort, strength and peace will be yours like never before as He walks you through this season. Tim, I am so very sorry! Your brother sure loved you!! To the entire Lane and Wilcox families, our thoughts and prayers are with you. I am truly saddened that we can not be there today to support you all and celebrate Joey’s life with you. I am so grateful to know, however, that Joey is rejoicing now with His Savior! To know he continued to serve our great God throughout his life….THAT makes my heart so glad!
Much Love and Prayers,
Tammy
Joey, I only knew you briefly, but those few times were memorable. This is such a shock to me and all that knew and loved you. From all the other comments,it definitely sounds like you made quite an impression on this world. I bet you and your Mom are doing the same in Heaven. I promise to take good care of your little brother, Timothy.
My sincerest condolences to the Lane & Wilcox families. My God bring you peace and comfort.
Kimberly Mims
Both Phyllis and me regret we are not able to be in the service today. We extend our deepest sympathies to Jenny, Tim and all the family. I am really proud of all Dunamis youth group members and how they have kept us all informed about Joe’s passing.
Joey was such an effervescent, energetic spark plug in youth group. His sense of humor made us all laugh. There are two moments I will never forget.
The first was during a service where I was having the students read the scriptures I was using that night. Sometimes I would ask for volunteers and sometimes ask specific people. This particular night I asked specific people and Joey was one of them. When I called on him I said this is a very important verse so we need some emphasis, stand on your chair. Being the comedian that he often was, he gladly stood on the chair, but when he read, it was less than half hearted. I said, “come on Joe, this is very important, read it with some flair.” So he did a little bit better. Then I said “read it like you are preaching hard!” So he did. It was great! By the time he finished this time, he was in tears. God really touched him that night.
The second was the first time we were raising money for some in the group to go to Jamaica. He was not going to be able to go, but was always at the fund raisers. When we did the famous spaghetti dinner on Sunday, he came out of the kitchen with a cool, plain white, long apron on and a big pot in his hands. So I asked him why he was helping. His answer showed his real heart, “I can’t go, but I can be involved in helping others go.” That touched my heart!! Joe was generous.
Joe, thank your for your life and how you have touched all of us.
I met Joe while applying for membership at Christ Community Presbyterian Church. He was assigned as the elder that would oversee my growth in the church. He was faithful to touch base with me and ask how to pray for me. I appreciate his sense of humor, his wisdom and genuine caring for those around him. I look forward to seeing him again in Heaven.
Hey – my friend of 2+ decades… You saw me thru everything; and I mean everything. Through it all you were always there to tell me what I needed to hear whether I wanted to hear it or not. I miss that. But what I miss most are YOUR HUGS. I’ll never ever ever not miss your hugs Joe. Love & miss you forever. xo