Obituary of Joe Maze

On the evening of July 4, 2014, Joe passed away peacefully of natural causes. Joe was being visited and comforted by family members at the McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center in Springfield, Oregon at the time of his passing. Joe was 82 years old.Joe was born on February 17, 1932 in Neodesha, Kansas. He and his twin, Henry were the first children born to Alta Nora Irene Comstock Maze and Joie Anderson Maze.At the age of 16, Joe, his mother, step-father, Fred Loomis and siblings moved to Philomath, Oregon, where he and his cousins raised hell as teenagers. Joe had a love for breaking wild horses and entering any rodeo he could.At 17 he joined the Oregon National Guard, then the United States Air Force 2 years later where he served his country for 20 years. During his time in the military he completed assignments in England, France, Germany, the US, and two tours in Vietnam. During his first tour, he was captured and held as a POW. After escaping and retuning to the US, he was assigned his second tour in Vietnam as a member of the Special Ops Strike Force. He retired from the USAF in 1971.Joe then put his skills to use in law enforcement. He was committed to protect and serve until 1995. He was a Papillion City Police Officer, then worked his way up from Deputy to Captain of the Sarpy County Police Department in Nebraska. During his time with the police department he also served with the Papiliion Volunteer Fire Department.Joe was involved in Masonic organizations such as the Tangier Shriners of Nebraska and the Al Kader Shriners of Oregon. Joe was most passionate about visiting the children in the Shriners Hospital in Minnesota and putting a smile on people's faces as Snuffy the Clown.Joe is survived by his wife of 20 years, Gloria Galitzky Maze, his daughter, Jacquelyn Galitzky Maze Spiller, son in law, Trip Spiller, granddaughter, Abigail Galitzky, sisters Mary Anderson of Eugene, OR and JoAnna Lee of Reno, NV along with countless nieces, nephews and cousins.He was proceeded in death by his parents, son Bobby Joe, and previous wife Wilma Jean Maze.Memorial services will be held on Thursday, July 10, 2014 at 2:00 pm at the Twin Oaks Memorial Garden in Albany, Oregon and a future service to be held at Cedardale Cemetery in Papillion, Nebraska.Arrangements entrusted to Springfield Memorial Funeral Home. Please access the obituary and you are invited to sign the guestbook at musgroves.com