Joseph Alan Yankoviak

Joseph Alan Yankoviak, 68, of Petoskey, Michigan, passed away on March 30, 2023 at McLaren Northern Michigan Hospital.

Joe was born in Cheboygan, Michigan, to Joseph and Marietta (Couture) Yankoviak on March 14, 1955, the youngest of seven children.  He attended St. Mary’s grade school where he met many of his lifelong friends.  Joe graduated from Cheboygan Catholic in 1973, where he excelled in both sports and academics.  He was an all-state athlete in football, basketball, and baseball.  During his senior year, Joe was the recipient of the Steven Lavigne Memorial Award given to the top student athlete. He went on to attend Western Michigan University where he graduated with a degree in Petroleum Marketing in 1977.  After college and an infamous road trip in a VW van to the west coast, Joe eventually settled in Traverse City, Michigan, where he ultimately met and married the love of his life, Donna Lynn Kulpa.

With the cherry trees in full bloom, and surrounded by their family, Joe and Donna were married on June 8, 1991, in Suttons Bay, Michigan on her parent’s cherry farm.  Three years later, they were blessed with their firstborn daughter, Ilena, in November 1994.  A few years after that, they were blessed once again with their second born daughter, Sarah, in May 1997. To say he was one proud father is an understatement. Joe was an amazing dad and loved his girls immensely. In 1998, the family found themselves headed to Petoskey, Michigan, where Joe accepted a position with Great Lakes Gas Transmission Company as a Right-of-Way Agent.

Joe was not only a lifelong athlete, but an avid outdoorsman as well. He loved to bird hunt and fish, as well as mushroom hunt.  He and Donna enjoyed many outings foraging for mushrooms and fishing in the Les Cheneaux island area, where they’d often be joined by family to partake in the bounty. But one of the highlights of Joe’s year, every year, was the hunting and fishing trip he took every fall to Drummond Island with his lifelong friends from Cheboygan.  As one of the organizers of their trips every year, Joe would write letters to all who were attending, providing them with a specific list of items to bring, and interject some humor within. They definitely left their mark on Drummond.  This same group of guys also made an annual weekend long trek to Detroit to take in a Tigers game. This trip was affectionately known as ‘Panic in Detroit.’

To know Joe was to love Joe.  He never had a bad word to say about anyone, he had a kind heart, and was just so much fun to be around.  Joe had a great sense of humor, and often dubbed friends and family with nicknames, a trait he inherited from his father.  If you believe in the adage, you can judge a man by the company he keeps, then you knew Joe was a special individual.  Not only does he have great friends, but he also has an amazing family.  To be in the company of the Yankoviak family is truly a blessing.

Joe was preceded in death by his parents, Joseph and Marietta Yankoviak, his brother, John Yankoviak, his brothers-in-law, Ed Trahan and Ford Kaufman, and his father-in-law, John Kulpa.  He is survived by Donna, and their daughters, Ilena and Sarah, his five sisters, Stephanie (Tom) Shields, Carole Trahan, Janine (Pete) Jonker, Alice Yankoviak, and Sara (Bob) Schoolmaster, his mother-in-law, Natalene Kulpa, his brother-in-law Derrek (Shirley) Kulpa, sisters-in-law, Dorene (Bob) Van Shufflin, and Deanna Kulpa, as well as many nieces and nephews.

You are invited to attend a memorial service to honor Joe, which will be held at Stone Funeral Home in Petoskey, Michigan on Saturday, June 10th at 12:00pm with a celebration of life to follow.  Visitation will be from 11:00am-12:00pm preceding the service.  In lieu of flowers, the family suggests planting a tree or donating to the Michigan Chapter of Trout Unlimited or to the Michigan DNR in support of wildlife and fishing habitats.

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