Joseph Rufus ‘Joe’ King
HAMPTON Joseph Rufus “Joe” King, 83, died Monday, April 12, 2021. He was the youngest of five children born to Margaret and John King and a lifelong resident of Hampton.
Joe was known to family and friends as Putty or Putty Red. His family lived in the Garden City area of Hampton and attended Phenix High School, where he excelled in football.
He continued his football career at Norfolk State. Joe was an entrepreneur from his early childhood and learned the value of hard work and honesty from his Uncle Joe and Aunt Mary, with whom he lived for several years as a young child. During the Vietnam era he was drafted. He subsequently enlisted in the U.S. Army, where he quickly advanced through the ranks. He received a commission, attended Officers Candidate School, and eventually retired as a lieutenant colonel after 24 years of combined active and reserve service.