Joseph Banister

Joseph S. Banister Jr., 85, passed away in his home due to complications from renal failure on June 6, 2021.

Mr. Banister was born on July 16, 1935 in Wheeling, West Virginia, the second son of Joseph Banister Sr. and Mary (McConaughey) Banister. He grew up in Ohio and graduated from Bridgeport, Ohio High School in 1953 whereupon he volunteered in the US Army for a period of three years spending two and a half of those years in southern Germany. After his discharge in 1956, he entered Mayville, ND State Teacher’s College to pursue a degree in music. Graduating in 1960, he accepted a position of Music Director for the Finley, ND Public Schools. In 1961 he married Linda Stevenson of Walhalla, ND. They had a son, Joseph Sydney III in 1963 and a daughter Wendy Kay in 1964. In 1965, he received a Master’s degree in Education from UND. Also in 1965, he accepted a position as Choral Music Director for the Jamestown Public Schools – a position he held for the next twenty-five years until his retirement from teaching in 1990. While in Jamestown, he directed the Sanctuary Choir of the First United Methodist Church for twenty-seven years and the Jamestown Choralaires for twenty-six years.

He is survived by his children, Joseph Sydney III (Janel Lura), Wendy Kay (Amber Fredrickson); a sister Marguerite (Peg) Ratliff of Mascoutah, IL, Violet Green of Tiltonsville, OH and several nieces and nephews. He was proceeded in death by his parents, his brother Alfred Banister and sister Anna Florence.

In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) at 4899 Belfort Road Suite 300, Jacksonville, FL 32256.

Visitation: 4 PM to 7 PM, Monday, June 14, 2021 at Williams Funeral Home.

Memorial Service: 10 AM, Tuesday, June 15, 2021 at First United Methodist Church.

Burial: North Dakota Veteran’s Cemetery, Mandan, ND at a later date.

Arrangements are in the care of Williams Funeral Home.