Dr. Joseph Golden McKinley, Jr., died on Tuesday, January 31, 2023, at the Kempton Hermitage Elder Care in Hermitage, TN.

Joseph was born August 15, 1933, in Kansas City, Missouri, the first child of Dr. Joseph G. McKinley, Sr., and Emma Jean (Jeffery) McKinley. His two younger sisters, Carmen Coleen, and Janelle followed later.

The family was apart for a while due to illness. Emma and baby Joe went to her parents in Arkansas while his father moved to Santa Fe where he worked in a sanatorium. After the family joined him there, they moved to Farmington, New Mexico. Emma and baby Joe joined his father in Farmington and then moved on to Pagosa Springs, Colorado when Joe was three. Joe spent his first school years in Pagosa Springs. The family moved to Durango, Colorado when Joe was 12. Joe graduated from Durango High School in 1950 at age 16. He then attended the University of Colorado in Boulder and was accepted into the University of Colorado School of Medicine in 1954. He received his M.D. degree in June 1958, and went on to do an internship at San Diego County Hospital, San Diego, California. Following his internship, he returned to the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Denver to start his residency in Pathology.

Joe met his future wife, Dr. Sarah Ann (Selbe) McKinley, in San Diego, where they both interned. Joe and Sally were blessed with three children: Joseph Douglas, James Thomas, and John Jeffrey.

Joe enlisted in the United States Air Force in 1961, and was stationed at San Antonio, Texas, but the research station where he worked was in Austin, Texas. Following Joe’s discharge from the Air Force, the family returned to Denver, where Joe finished his residency in Pathology.

Joe’s first Pathology practice was at Rideout Hospital in Marysville, California, followed by a brief time in his hometown of Durango, Colorado, before he moved to Sidney, Montana where he practiced Pathology at Sidney Community Hospital for 30 years, retiring in 1998.
During his retirement years Joe spent his time reading, enjoying his long-time collection of old cars, studying languages, and enjoying a few family vacations.

Joe’s health started deteriorating and his sons took him to Nashville, Tennessee so he could be treated at Vanderbilt University. He spent the last three and a half years in Hermitage, TN, a suburb of Nashville.

Joe is survived by his wife Sarah, and his three sons: Joseph Douglas of Sidney, Montana; James Thomas (Judy) of Old Hickory, Tennessee; and John Jeffrey of Billings, Montana; youngest sister, Janelle; two nephews Jonathan and Gabriel Coke, 4 grandnieces, and numerous other family members.

Joe was preceded in death by his parents, and his sister, Carmen, and a niece, Rachel Timie (Coke) Matthews.

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