Joseph Costelloe
1912-1993

Better known as "Joe" the youngest child of Edmond Costelloe and Alice Dow. He was born on the Costelloe Ranch on the Winchuck River, Brookings Oregon on January 19, 1912. His father Edmond died a few months after his birth in October 1912. After the death of Edmond, his mother Alice continued to run the ranch until 1915 when she married Dave Gilmore. Dave and Alice had a son, Jack Gilmore born in 1916.

Jack and Joe with sister Myrle and brothers Carl, Elmer and Leonard grew up working the ranch. All of their initials were carved in the barn uprights on the ranch. The old barn was torn down and replaced with a metal structure in late 1988.

Alice and Dave separated in 1933 and Dave took 17 year old Jack and moved to Brookings. Joe joined the "3 C's" in 1933 and spent 2 years in the 979th Company at Ford Bradford, Oregon. There were times when it was slow and Joe took up carving. He carved many wooden puzzles and games and a five foot wooden link chain. It has been broken over the years, but his daughter, Bonnie Costelloe Heimer still has a 2 1/2 foot section of it hanging on her wall. 

While in the "3 C's" Joe met Clayton McCullah, who had a sister Cleo "Nancy", whom Joe married on March 30, 1936 in the brides home in Riddle, Douglas County, Oregon. She was born October 26, 1917 in Saguache, Saguache County, Colorado.    After their marriage, Joe and Nancy lived for a while in a tent on the creek near the house on the Costelloe Ranch. They eventually moved to Eureka and their first daughter, Bonnie was born in 1937, she was joined in 1938 by Betty also born in Eureka.

For the next 4 years, Joe worked as a truck driver and mechanic in Tionesta, California and Lovelock, Nevada. They lived in Redding for a while where Joe worked on the Shasta Dam Project. When the job was done, he moved his family to Freshwater, California where they had a five acre farm. He worked in the woods, and Nancy became a welder in the shipyards in Eureka. Betty and Bonnie both started to school there in a one room schoolhouse. They all moved to Bieber, California in 1945 and then on to Modesto, California in 1948 where Joe and Nancy were later divorced.

In 1950 Joe left California and ended up in Spokane, Washington where he met and married Eleanor Keith on March 05, 1951 in Spokane, Washington. She was born February 17, 1904 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.. They lived and worked for a while in and around Pritchard and Wallace Idaho.

By Christmas of 1957 Joe and Eleanor were living in the Dalles, Oregon where Joe worked on the Bonneville Project and Eleanor was a seamstress. From there they moved the trailer to Madras, Oregon where they bought property and Joe worked for the county Roads crew.

While living in Madras Joe and Eleanor went to Baja, California on a construction job. They were on the southern most tip of Baja  for about 2 years. When the job finished, they came back to Madras. Soon after Joe got a job offer in Australia for a year. Eleanor decided to stay in Madras and keep up the farm and her seamstress shop. When Joe came back to Oregon he went back to work for the County. He retired from the County in the 1970's.

After retirement Joe and Eleanor spent time working on their home and Garden and traveling. In 1987 they sold their place in Madras because of illness and moved to Dallas, Oregon. They both eventually went into a retirement home. Eleanor died July 3, 1990, and Joe died April 9, 1993.