Joseph Newton Stites

Published 1:37 pm Monday, March 3, 2025

Bowling Green – Joseph Newton Stites, age 69, died on Saturday, March 1, 2025, after suffering from dementia for several years. He was a loving husband, father, friend, brother, musician, joke-teller, auto mechanic, and – most importantly – a teacher.

Born on July 14, 1955, in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, to the late Robert Hunt Stites and Theresa Ann Barnett Stites, he was a devout Roman Catholic who participated in Mass every Sunday. He attended elementary school and was an alter boy at Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Hopkinsville, Kentucky. Joe was preceded in death by his parents and his brother Christopher Grau Stites. Joe is survived by his spouse Pamela Eileen Napier; his sons James (Jim) Napier Stites of Danville, Kentucky, and David Napier Stites (Krystal Ann Martin) of Bowling Green, Kentucky. He is also survived by his best friend since eighth grade, Charles Larry Long, and so many students whom he loved and of whom he was proud. He leaves behind three brothers, Robert Hunt Stites, Jr. (Christine Standart Stites), of Hopkinsville, Kentucky; Thomas Anthony Stites (Debbie Pritchard Stites), of Lexington, Kentucky; and Stephen Carl Stites (Amy Klingensmith Stites), of LaFayette, Kentucky; two sisters, Fredericka Margaret Stites McAndrew (Ricky McAndrew) of Hopkinsville, Kentucky; and Ruth Carolyn Stites Weimer (John Philip Weimer), of Riverton, UT; Chris’s widow, Brenda Averitt Stites; and several nieces, nephews, great-nieces, great-nephews, and cousins.

Mr. Stites was an alumnus of Hopkinsville High School, Western Kentucky University, and the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Joe joined the Hopkinsville High School Band when he transferred to public school in eighth grade. He was twice selected to the Kentucky Music Educators Association (KMEA) All-State Band and earned KMEA Superior Ratings in tuba performance.

In the fall of 1973, Joe enrolled in Western Kentucky University where he was the band student worker and earned a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education (1977). He was in the first class to attend WKU in the new Ivan Wilson Center for Fine Arts (FAC). An active tubist, he studied with Dr. Kent Campbell, and upon graduation, was admitted to graduate school at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. At UIUC he studied with Daniel Perantoni and completed his Master of Science in Music Education in 1978. In 1995 he returned to UIUC for eighteen months and completed coursework for a PhD in Music Education. From 1978 to 1987 he was band director at Webster County High School, Madisonville North Hopkins High School, and Lone Oak High School, all in Kentucky, and The Westminster Schools in Atlanta, Georgia. In 1987 he began a long, distinguished career at Western Kentucky University, teaching the methods and education courses most essential to music education students. In his numerous roles he served as Associate Director of Bands, Director of Athletic Bands, Assistant Professor of Music Education & Tuba/Euphonium, as well as performing many departmental administrative duties.

He was responsible for academic advising for music education majors, supervising student teachers, the Grants and Scholarship Committee, and the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee. From 2000-2001 he served as Interim Department Head, and in 2007-2008 he was Interim Director of Bands. Performing activities included the WKU Faculty Brass Quintet; founding member of Bowling Green Chamber Orchestra, which became Orchestra Kentucky; principal tubist in the Bowling Green-Western Symphony Orchestra; and substitute tubist with the Owensboro Symphony. As a clinician, he served many All-District Bands throughout Kentucky. He was a founding musician of the Southern Kentucky Concert Band, later serving the SKyCB as Co-Director and then Director until 2019. He enjoyed performing at numerous local churches, especially during the Christmas and Easter seasons. As a committed music educator, he maintained deep involvement in the Kentucky Music Educators Association. He served as KMEA President-Elect, KMEA President, and KMEA Vice-President from 2007-2013, was instrumental in many KMEA committees, and served as site manager for many festivals including Solo & Ensemble, District Concert Band, and KMEA State Marching Band Championships. His students are significant contributors to KMEA and to the success of music education throughout Kentucky and the region. Mr. Stites was awarded the Citation for Service, Kentucky Music Educators Association’s highest honor, in 2008. In 2022, he was inducted into the Western Kentucky University Department of Music Wall of Fame. Most recently, in 2025, Third District Music Educators Association awarded him the Robyn Swanson Legacy Award.

J.C. Kirby & Son Broadway Chapel in Bowling Green is entrusted with the arrangements, and cremation was chosen. There will be visitation in Bowling Green at the J.C. Kirby & Son Broadway Chapel from 5:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. (Central time) on Thursday, March 6, 2025. Funeral Mass will be said by Reverend Father Christopher Kight, a former student of Joe’s, at Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church, 902 East 9th Street, Hopkinsville, Kentucky 42240, at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, March 13, 2025.

The Celebration of Joe Stites’s Life will be held in Bowling Green at a location to be determined, on Saturday either June 14, 21, or 28, 2025. Everyone who knew Joe is encouraged to attend this the main and joyous event after music teachers have all finished basketball tournament, concert festival, spring musical, spring concert, and graduation seasons. The family wants all to know of the summer celebration so that no one feels obligated to miss school and drive across the state this week or next. “Take care of your students,” as Joe would say. In lieu of flowers, expressions of sympathy may take the form of donations to Hospice of Southern Kentucky, or the public school band program of your choice.