Joe Ireland aka “Papa Joe” spent a beautiful Christmas surrounded by his family and loved ones. Doing what he did best, grinning from ear to ear as he watched everyone’s interactions, collecting his Christmas boxes as we opened our gifts and dozing softly in the lulls of the evening. We did not know that the Lord would surprise us by welcoming him home the very next day. We were all so lucky to spend his favorite holiday with him, full of joy. Joe loved working hard and consistently showed his love for his family through intentional actions.
Joe was born in Kansas City, Kansas on November 4th, 1947 to Rodney and Gertrude Ireland. He passed away at the age of 78 on December 26, 2025.
The oldest of seven, he is preceded in death by his parents and his sisters, Edith Schneider and Helen Everheart. His eldest son Matt Ireland, who we lost on January 2, 2018, coincidentally the same day we are laying Joe to rest.
He is survived by his loving wife Chris Ireland; they were married on April 24, 1971. His son Brad Ireland (Nicole Ireland), daughter-in-law Sarah Ireland of Matt Ireland, grandchildren Paden Crews (Aaron Crews), Sebastian and Brock. He is also survived by his siblings, Christine Gilmore, Mary Ireland, Anita Lemmon (Lonnie Lemmon), and Tom Ireland, and was blessed with an abundance of wonderful nieces, nephews, great-nieces, and great-nephews.
At age 13, Joe started a job cutting asparagus in the early morning for a farmer at 75th and Quivira before heading to St. Joseph Catholic School. He recently told his grandson Brock, who’s almost 13, this story so we thought it was worth mentioning :)
From 1967 to 1969 he was drafted for the Vietnam war and stationed in Germany. He worked at Deluxe Check Printers for 32 years, forming lifelong friendships before retiring in 1998.
In 1998 he achieved his security license and worked for Primerica. He was still handling investments in the present day. In 2000, he earned his $100,000 ring. In 2011 he decided a food truck would be a fun way to keep busy and launched the Crave Truck in 2012 with Chris and Brad. They quickly filled their books and thoroughly enjoyed feeding the masses at their offices, parties, KC Chiefs events, weddings and special life events for the last 13 years. They even won Visit KC’s fan voted award “Best Food Truck” in 2018.
People who have known Joe for a long time know he was very artistic. When Chris met Joe, he was painting and showing cars. Some of these cars were very elaborate. Some were very fun, like his perfect replica of the General Lee. He loved picking up Matt and Brad from Benninghoven and honking the same horn from the TV show.
When Joe took the family to a Kansas City Comets game and he saw how much joy it brought them, he bought season tickets for years, possibly creating the biggest fans the Comets ever knew. That love turned into Joe coaching Brad and Matt’s men's A team Strikeforce. These moments created memories that family and friends have talked about for decades.
In more recent years, Joe was always keeping busy. Maintaining the truck, prepping food, maintaining the lawn, taking Brock for little adventures, and frequenting the casinos, winning too many handpays to count.
We already deeply miss our Patriarch, Chris’s other half, a father figure, and Papa Joe with all of our hearts. We are devastated because he was so many things to us all, and we already feel his absence.
Visitation will be at 12:15 pm with a Memorial Service at 1:30 pm on Friday, January 2 at the Porter Funeral Home, 8535 Monrovia, Lenexa, Kansas Burial to follow at Resurrection Cemetery.