Joe served in the US Navy as an Engineman from 10/1960 to 10/1963.
He was a policeman with the Charleston, IL, Police Dept, rising toDete ctive and retiring in 1994.
He and Joan operated a bed and breakfast for years before getting intot he home business, buying, remodeling, then reselling.
Joe was a real estate assessor and his name appeared often in newsprin t as in the following excerpt from 12/4/2002:
"Hutton Township (Coles Co, IL) Supervisor Jim Crable said themulti-to wnship assessment district needed more money to hire someoneto do prop erty assessments because no one ran for the electedassessor's position . The district's levy will be $15,000, up from$10, 000 last year.
Crable said the district hired Joe Van Gundy, who does assessments fors everal townships, to do the work in the two townships. That meantthe d istrict didn't have to purchase state-required computerequipment for t he work because Van Gundy already has it, he said.
"It would cost us far more money to do that than to hire him," Crables aid. He also said Van Gundy's fee will be less than the salary of anel ected multi-township assessor for the district.
Van Gundy's contract is for $13,000 a year. The rest of the levyincrea se is to cover other expenses, mostly for publishing thedistrict's ann ual report."
