Joe William Embrey age 96 of Hondo, passed away Apr. 13, 2018. He was born Oct. 23, 1921, in Hondo, the son of William Henry and Lola Belle Dutton Embrey. While at Hondo High School, he played on the 1939 state championship baseball team. Joe was the last living member of that team. Following graduation from HHS, he went to Lamar Junior College to play football. Shortly after starting school, he was drafted into the US Army and sent overseas during World War II. After the war, Joe enrolled at Baylor to play baseball. Later, he wed Dorothy Prescott; they were married for over 40 years. Joetta was born in 1954 and Donna in 1957. Joe played semi-pro baseball for the Marshall Browns and the Odessa Oilers, and later he also played with the Highway 90 League. He drove a truck for nearly 30 years before he went to work for the Hondo ISD, where he took care of the buses and made sure the football and baseball fields looked perfect. He loved the Hondo Owls and spent the years he worked for the district sitting in the press box for almost every game, as long as he was able. A lifelong member of the First Baptist Church of Hondo and recently, until his passing, the oldest living member. Joe touched a lot of lives in his 96 years and every single one he knew or who knew him has a story to tell about him. He will be greatly missed by all. Joe loved his family, and always came first with him. He treated his grandkids and great-grandkids the same way he treated his kids - spoiled them rotten. He was preceded in death by his parents; wife; brothers, Marvin Roy, Charles James and John Henry Racehorse' Embrey; and sisters, Margie Abbott, Frances Jan Fanny' Robertson, Mary Belle Magers and Margaret Embrey. He is survived by his brother, Arthur Lee Pudro' Embrey; daughters, Joetta (Randy) Elsea of San Antonio and Donna (Royce) Starnes of Dilley; grandchildren, Judy Lanier, Abbey Nied, Eric Elsea, Matt Elsea, Stephanie Encalade, Stacy Jackson, Jacob Starnes, Samantha Starnes and Justin Starnes; and 13 great-grandchildren. Funeral was Apr. 17 at First Baptist Church, Hondo. Interment was at Hondo Cemetery, Oakwood Section.