Joseph Hugo Maulhardt passed away peacefully in his sleep on April 21, 2010.

Joe was born June 2, 1919 at St. John's Hospital in Oxnard, the first child of Gustave and Evelyne (Salkeld) Maulhardt. He is a grandchild of early Ventura County pioneers Heinrich Wilhelm and Augusta (Wucherpfennig) Maulhardt who immigrated from Esplingerode, Germany, arriving in the 1880s. Joe and his two sisters (Dorothy and Gabrielle) were raised on the Home Ranch at Rice and Wooley roads east of Oxnard.

Farm life was always busy and already by the age of six, one of Joe's jobs was to light and tend the fire under the wash caldron every Monday. On June 29, 1925, the great Santa Barbara earthquake caused a wave in the caldron which overflowed and put out little Joe's fire. Joe was adept with horses and mules and could handle a buckboard with aplomb.

Joe attended Santa Clara Elementary and High School and graduated from Oxnard High School in 1936. He attended Ventura Junior College and transferred to UC Berkeley in 1938 to study political science with hopes of being in the Foreign Service. He graduated from Cal in 1941. At Cal he met Margery Jordan and they married on Nov. 28, 1941.

He enlisted in the U.S. Navy May 22, 1941, as a Seaman 1st Class. He was stationed on Market Street in San Francisco in the Naval Intelligence Office. He served there until Sept. 15, 1945, when the war ended just prior to his embarkation date for Pacific duty.

He then worked for the Atlas Powder Plant in Giant, Calif. Joe and Marge's first three children, David, Michael and Susan, were born in Berkeley. The family moved to Ventura County in 1949 where their youngest child, Sally, was born.

Joe's dad, Gus, asked him to return to help with the farming operation, an avocation for and interest in which Joe kept for the rest of his days. During the course of his life in farming, he drove everything in the business from mule teams to modern tractors. He maintained nearly 100 acres of farmland by his own hand, and with the help of a few exceptional men, for nearly six decades. He nurtured diverse crops such as lemons, lima beans and various vegetables. Joe squired the management of the ranch until his last day and helped sustain it and maintain the Maulhardt Farm continuing now 130 years. In the span of his lifetime he saw Rice Road go from a dusty, dirt road with one car passing by each day, to a crowded and swiftly driven four-lane avenue.

Throughout their lives, Joe and Marge took a deep interest in people both near and far. Beginning in 1965 and over the course of three decades, they hosted seven foreign exchange students through AFS and other programs, expanding their family and understanding of the world and its peoples.

In 1966, Joe and Marge took a year off from farming to live in Switzerland and travel throughout Europe with their daughters, furthering their exposure to people and regions of the world. They continued to welcome relations and friends from around the world for the rest of their days.

Joe's pastimes included fabricating implements in his shop, camping and backpacking in the Sierra Nevada, and exploring the back roads, mines, and ghost towns of the western desert with his longtime friend, Dan Hartman. Marge used to say that Joe had been on every road in California, which was not an exaggeration. As a lifelong student of Native American cultures, trips to northern Arizona and museums were a tradition. An amateur geologist, he enjoyed exploring the West with Friends of the Pleistocene, a geologic society.

Always having a "bug" in his ear tuned to the radio, he sang and knew by heart all the words to all the songs of his era, and then some. He had an eye for a good deal and never missed a good swap meet.

Joe brought out the best in people and will be remembered as a dignified, gentle, generous, hard-working, kind, and intellectual man who was wholly devoted to his wife Marge during their 66-year marriage. He was the pillar of the Maulhardt family, both immediate and extended, providing the foundation for the family's history, well-being, and stability regardless of ups and downs in the market for produce and lemons. He passes on a significant legacy we will all be challenged to uphold.

Joe was preceded in death by his parents, by his wife Margery in 2008, his sister Gabrielle and his son David.

He is survived by his sister, Dorothy Moon; his son, Michael (Leslie); daughters, Susan (Bob McPherson) and Sally (Kenny Molenhouse); his four grandchildren, Stacy (Terry Cole), Jesse Davis, Tom Maulhardt and Christie Maulhardt; his great-grandson, Joseph Davis; and numerous relatives including nieces and nephews: Lesley (and John) Brabyn and their children, Trevor and Jocelyn, Jeffrey and Tony Barnes; John Moon, Cathy Moon, Roger (and Jadene) Moon, Richard (and Denette) moon.

A memorial service will take place at 11 a.m. on Saturday, May 1, at Griffin Family Funeral Chapels, 1075 E. Daily Dr., Camarillo; 482-1166, with burial following at Conejo Mountain Memorial Park, Camarillo, and a reception for family and friends at 190 Anacapa Dr., Camarillo.

The Maulhardt family encourages remembrances be made to your favorite charity.

Arrangements under the direction of Griffin Family Funeral Chapels, Camarillo and Thousand Oaks.