Joel was such a special character, a special dude, special man and much more. It was a pleasure to have known a man with such energy for as long as I did. He could make me break into a grin, a smile, or a spout of laughter whether it was in person or just hearing him in the background of Jamey’s microphone.

 My condolences and hugs to his lovely family. Rest in peace, Joel. 

Joel was such a special friend to us. We met at the Twin Peaks Fest and I instantly felt bonded to his entire family. 

Joel had such a love for life and I always felt uplifted each time we would visit. I’m still in disbelief that he is gone. He was so young and it just doesn’t seem real. 

I’ll always treasure the memories I have with the Peacocks. Joel had so many great qualities, he was a loyal friend, supportive, always upbeat, he LOVED his family, he was passionate and boy, he made a killer pizza! 

My condolences to Deanna, Jamey, Jenna and to the rest of his family and friends. We’ve all lost a very special person. I still can’t believe it’s true 😢

Rest in peace, Joel. We’ve been taking note of the signs that you’re still with us.  

I’ve been thinking about what to write since I got the awful news that Joel passed. I haven’t been able to shake it, and all those old memories have flooded my brain. I was almost 10, when my nephew Joel, (“Bug” to me and his parents) our family’s first grandson, was born. I was so close with him and his sister. All I can see in my mind’s eye is that sweet little blonde boy that clung to me. We all spent a lot of time together. They spent the night at my house often, and as I got older, I babysat a lot. My happy memories include the Jersey for ice cream, amusement parks, Atari, music, sledding at the Harding Memorial, water fights, and Star Wars, which Joel had quite a collection. He was so cute, funny and silly. A fun kid to be around, and I adored him and his sister. After his mom, my sister Dianne, died in a tragic auto accident, I tried (at 17 yrs old) to step in and be there as much as I could for them. It was a difficult time for all of us, but especially for them, at 8 and 10 yrs old, but we tried to get through it the best we could. (I fondly remember Chinese fire drills!) Little did we know at that time, how deeply their mom’s death would impact their lives, and moving away from family would affect ALL our lives. (It KILLED me.) Their dad did bring them “home” to be in my wedding, and boy was Joel MAD at me for taking him to get his hair cut! Years flew by and the last time we were able to be together was a surprise trip my sisters and I took to Cali, early 2000s. Joel was really happy we were there, and we got to meet Deanna. I deeply wish we had made more effort to get together, but life got in the way for all of us. I am grateful we kept in touch, especially more so, and often, in the last few years. Joel was incredibly bright, sarcastic (lol), and a loving man. He adored his wife and children. He suffered deeply throughout his life with the loss of his mom, and then the loss of his dad. Although I am so incredibly heartbroken with his passing, I find peace and comfort knowing he is in the arms of his mom once again.

Rest in Heaven, Bug. My heart will always be with you, and I love you. ~ Your “Auntie” Tina

I first “met” Joel online - on some Twin Peaks Facebook group or another - and I was *not* impressed. He had a God given talent for riling people up, and enough of a mischievous middle-school-boy spirit to employ that talent with great glee. In the years since I’ve asked myself more than once if part of that was his way of testing and screening people - beyond the obvious enjoyment he got out of it .

In any case I came away from my first interactions with him thinking that he was a bit of an asshat. But I I was also intrigued, and so made a conscious decision to put my first impression aside and work to see what - if anything - was behind that brash facade. I’ll be forever grateful I did.

After speaking online for months, we finally met in person at the Twin Peaks Festival in 2017. I was a ball of nervous energy and social anxiety, but talking to him and Dee was just so very easy. They were both so warm and welcoming that I managed to get out of my shell in record time. That meeting cemented our friendship for good.

The following year was a flurry of internet hi-jinx, long chats, and sleepless nights thanks to the very different time zones we lived in. Having lost my father at age 12, Joel and I bonded over the trauma of losing a parent so young and over how that rip in the fabric of your life continues to stay with you and influences everything that comes after.

On a less emotionally taxing level we also bonded over our shared love for Twin Peaks and Star Wars, though within the frame of this shared love - as in so many things both big and small - we tended to disagreed passionately with each other. And somehow we loved each other all the more for it.

In the summer of 2018 I spent a week with Joel and his family in their house in Kalispell - to this very day one of the best weeks of my life. We went fishing on Flathead Lake (I pulled a gazillion whitefish out of that lake, but it was Jenna whom we celebrated for catching the day’s only salmon) and paddling rafts to I-can’t-remember-where, collecting a flock of ducks as our very own honor guard along the way. We sat out on their deck talking into the wee hours and looking at the magnificent stars. Sitting outside their front door I got early morning visits from their neighbors’ goats and sitting at their kitchen counter we pickled Jalapeños and watched Jenna make the world’s smallest pancake (perfectly flipped, though). Joel manned the grill for a 4th-of-July redo complete with firecrackers and at some other point during that week he cooked up a storm for a cook-off - only to then pout the rest of the night because he lost it. He took me on a ride in his prized muscle car and showed me how to shoot a whole arsenal of guns. It was all so perfectly Joel and it was all perfect to me.

Over the years we spoke less frequently, but neither he nor his family were ever far from my mind. Whenever we did speak it was like no time had passed at all, and we always spoke about me coming out to Kalispell again. We thought we had time. *I* thought I had time. That this time has now run out and I never got to see him face to face again is one of the great regrets in my life.

There is no point in posthumously trying to shape Joel into some kind of flawless saint (indeed doing so would feel like a disservice to someone so passionately determined to unapologetically be himself). He was brash. He was stubborn and contrary. He could be a challenge to get along with and loved to stir any pot he came across. But, by God, that man had a heart the size of Alaska (sorry, Texas, you won’t cut it in this case).

Here are some of the things I very quickly learned about Joel, once I started actually looking:

He loved his family, his witfe and children, deeply and passionately, with a fierce pride and a mile-wide protective streak

He was fiercely loyal to his friends, all his friends. If you disagreed with him in fundamental ways he’d tease you about it but he would still accept you exactly the way you are. Not in the cheap, passive , on indifference bordering way of “tolerance” but by actively and powerfully saying “I love you, man, and because of that I love *all* of you”. And if you were able to return that sentiment, he would love you all the more for it

He would always take a stand for the underdog - or those he perceived as such

He would give you the shirt off his back. I remember him telling me how he, Dee, and the kids shortly after moving to a Kalispell trekked through the woods to bring food and water to firefighters combating a wildfire. But it is even more impressive that his willingness to help in any way he could didn’t just extend to his friends or people working to protect his newly bought property or even neutral strangers. It extended even to those who in the past had treated him less than kindly

As quick as he was offering a helping hand or a sympathetic ear, asking for either one was not something he was good at - a trait we both shared.

For all his brashness, he was surprisingly vulnerable and sensitive. He took things to heart, no matter how much he tried to pretend otherwise. That said, he would have knocked you on your head if you’d offered him anything even vaguely akin to pity. But if you got close enough, he’d allow for commiseration

I told him years ago in a chat “You’re a good man, Joel Peacock” (complete with a dodgy manipulation of a promotional poster for “You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown” because creating those kind of was our thing). Warts and all, to me that sentiment sums him up perfectly.

I’ve lost a Big Brother. Can’t believe he’s gone. First met Joel at the Twin Peaks Fest in 2016 with Dee and the kids and we became fast friends.

He had a heart of gold and he would always look out for you.

Went to stay with Joel and the family in Solcal in February 2017 where he rebuilt Glastonbury Grove in the location spot and we had a great day out in LA, visiting Sunset Strip and Manns Chinese Theatre. Had a great time staying with them and watching Twin Peaks with the family and Dees mom and we met again in North Bend in 2017.

Have always stayed in contact with him and last spoke a few months ago. It’s a hard one to take as he had a few chapters left.

See you again someday brother. 

We all are so sorry for your loss. 

Love from the Marion, Ohio Peacocks.