East Lansing man who loved people and making them laugh died of COVID-19 complications

This obituary is part of “We Will Remember,” a series about those we’ve lost to the coronavirus.

Joe Holton Jr. was a people person who loved not only his family but also the people he encountered as a sales representative.

Holton, 41, died Nov. 3 at McLaren Greater Lansing Hospital as a result of COVID-19 complications.

The East Lansing resident was born in Clare, grew up in Coleman and graduated from Coleman High School. He worked many sales position jobs before eventually becoming a sales representative for AT&T.

“He was very good at his job and selling people stuff,” said his mother, Terry Holton.

Holton was a jokester and loved to make people laugh. His mother recalled a water balloon fight that got even the adults involved. “We were bombing each other,” she remembered.

Holton loved talking about politics and Michigan State University sports, and he enjoyed playing basketball.

Family outings and time spent with family were important to him. His mother said that she's going to miss her son's famous words of “Love you, see you” before ending phone calls.

Holton, who wasn’t vaccinated, started having problems breathing and said that he felt as if he had the flu, according to his mother, who was also hospitalized for several days as a result of COVID-19.

“The whole family except for two of the grandkids had COVID,” she said.

Holton was taken by his aunt to the emergency room at Sparrow Hospital. He later left the hospital and went home for several hours before being taken by ambulance to McLaren Greater Lansing Hospital, where he was put on a ventilator after a couple of days.

“I hope no mother has to go through this,” Terry said about the death of her son.

In addition to his mother, Holton is survived by his girlfriend, Ashley Hackworth; sons Jayden and Jayce; sister Natasha (Martin) Abarca and extended family and friends.

If you have a family member or close friend who has died from COVID-19 and you would like to share their story, please visit our memorial wall and select “Share a story.”

Brendel Hightower is an assistant editor at the Detroit Free Press. Contact her at bhightower@freepress.com.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: East Lansing man who loved family and people died of COVID-19