Joseph Lawrence Golden, age 72, of Plymouth, Minnesota, formerly of Washington, Iowa, died Friday, October 14, 2011 at the North Memorial Residential Hospice in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, after a long battle with cancer.

Celebration of life services will be held 11:00 a.m. Thursday, October 20, 2011 at the Jones Eden Funeral Home with services conducted by Rev. Dave Stoufer. Visitation will begin 10:00 a.m. Thursday at the Jones Eden Funeral Home where the family will receive friends from 10:00 – 11:00 a.m. Military honors will be conducted by Washington American Legion Post 29 at the Jones Eden Funeral Home. Private family interment will take place at a later date. Online condolences may be sent for Joe's family through the web at www.jonesfh.com

Joseph was born August 31, 1939 in Clinton, Iowa the son of Joseph Peter and Juanita (Proud) Golden. He graduated from Clinton High School in 1957 and enlisted in the U.S. Navy, where he was sent to The Naval Aviation Electronics Training School. After graduation, he became a radioman and an antisubmarine warfare technician on a Navy seaplane patrolling the East Coast during the Cold War.

Upon discharge from the Navy, Mr. Golden married Sue Ann Fowler on August 4, 1964, in Clinton, Iowa. He graduated from Clinton Community College and attended the University of Iowa. He was employed by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources as a Fisheries Technician at the Lake Macbride and Lake Darling Fisheries Stations for 35 years. Joe was passionate about his career and loved the responsibility of teaching fishing techniques to others. In particular he enjoyed sharing his love for fishing with younger people in hopes that they too would embrace this pastime and pass it on to future generations.

Joe is survived by his daughter Kate Golden and her husband Mike Smith and their three boys, Nick, Alex, and Theo, of Plymouth, Minnesota; son Michael Golden and wife Susan and their daughter, Allison of Ainsworth, Iowa; a sister, Kathy Zaehringer and her husband Bob; and many nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents, his wife Sue in 2009, and his brother David in 2004.