{"id":41740,"date":"2026-07-04T08:27:17","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T13:27:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/?p=41740"},"modified":"2026-07-04T08:28:30","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T13:28:30","slug":"41740","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/obits\/41740-41740\/","title":{"rendered":"Joey Ray Washburn (73)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"image_print\"Print<\/span><\/a><\/div>

Joey Ray Washburn, 73, passed away peacefully at 11:05 p.m. on Thursday, July 2, 2026, at Fayette County
\nHospital, surrounded by the love of his family.<\/p>\n

Joe was a man of simple pleasures. He spent nearly his entire life on the same four-mile stretch of road where
\nhe was born and raised. He never felt the need to travel far because everything that mattered most to him was
\nright there, his family, his home, and the community he loved. He found happiness in the little things: sitting
\nand visiting with family and friends, and enjoying the music that became the soundtrack of his life. He often
\nreminded us that, “We’re all just a little dust in the wind.”<\/p>\n

Joe was preceded in death by the love of his life, Peggy Diane (Dilley) Washburn; his parents, Carl and Mary
\nWashburn; his infant brother, Larry Washburn; and his sisters, Shirleen Logsdon and Connie Bingaman.<\/p>\n

He is survived by his sisters, Judy Hoover and Becky Washburn; his brother, Jon Washburn; his children,
\nJoshua (Candace) Washburn, Kassie (Jason) Washburn-Hipsher, and Jasper (Elizabeth) Washburn. He also
\nleaves behind the greatest joy of his life his grandchildren: Elizabeth Austin (“Little Butt”), Grace Austin
\n(“Gracie Lou”), Xzavier Austin (“Bubba”), Zekiah Austin (“Buster”), Noah Denton (‘Barry’), his beloved
\nMckenzy Washburn (“Goo Goo Doll”), Jaxson Washburn (‘Tad”), Jonathan Washburn (“Johnny Biter”), and
\nSampson Washburn (“Sam the Ham”); along with his treasured great-granddaughter, Attika Grace. If Joe gave
\nyou a nickname, you knew you held a special place in his heart.<\/p>\n

Joe’s life wasn’t measured by the miles he traveled or the things he owned. It was measured by the love he gave,
\nthe family he cherished, and the countless memories he created with those around him. Like the lyrics of one of
\nhis favorite songs, there were times when life felt like “Another Brick in the Wall,” but Joe faced life’s
\nchallenges with quiet strength, stubborn determination, and an unwavering love for those around him.<\/p>\n

Although our hearts are broken, we find peace in knowing Joe is reunited with Peggy and is finally free from
\npain. His laughter, his stories, his nicknames, and the lessons he taught us will continue to live on in all who
\nknew and loved him.<\/p>\n

Per Joe’s wishes, a celebration of life will be held at a later date. Gieseking Funeral Home, Brownstown is
\nassisting the family with arrangements. Online condolences may be expressed at
\nwww.giesekingfuneralhome.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Until we meet again, we’ll keep on rockin’ in the free world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Joey Ray Washburn, 73, passed away peacefully at 11:05 p.m. on Thursday, July 2, 2026, at Fayette County Hospital, surrounded by the love of his family. Joe was a man […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":41742,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41740","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-obits"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nJoey Ray Washburn (73) - Effingham's News and Sports Leader, 979XFM and KJ Country 102.3<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Effingham's News and Sports Leader\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/obits\/41740-41740\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Joey Ray Washburn (73) - Effingham's News and Sports Leader, 979XFM and KJ Country 102.3\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Effingham's News and Sports Leader\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/obits\/41740-41740\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Effingham's News and Sports Leader, 979XFM and KJ Country 102.3\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-04T13:27:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-07-04T13:28:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Washburn-J.-07.02.2026.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1254\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1254\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Brian Herrmann\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Brian Herrmann\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/obits\\\/41740-41740\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/obits\\\/41740-41740\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Brian Herrmann\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ee6bedea7d78287f06d32d4260ef6b9a\"},\"headline\":\"Joey Ray Washburn (73)\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-04T13:27:17+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-04T13:28:30+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/obits\\\/41740-41740\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":422,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/obits\\\/41740-41740\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/Washburn-J.-07.02.2026.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Obituaries\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/obits\\\/41740-41740\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/obits\\\/41740-41740\\\/\",\"name\":\"Joey Ray Washburn (73) - Effingham's News and Sports Leader, 979XFM and KJ Country 102.3\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/obits\\\/41740-41740\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/obits\\\/41740-41740\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/Washburn-J.-07.02.2026.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-04T13:27:17+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-04T13:28:30+00:00\",\"description\":\"Effingham's News and Sports Leader\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/obits\\\/41740-41740\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/obits\\\/41740-41740\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/obits\\\/41740-41740\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/Washburn-J.-07.02.2026.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/Washburn-J.-07.02.2026.png\",\"width\":1254,\"height\":1254},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/obits\\\/41740-41740\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Joey Ray Washburn (73)\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/\",\"name\":\"Effingham's News and Sports Leader, 979XFM and KJ Country 102.3\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Effingham's News and Sports Leader, 979XFM and KJ Country 102.3\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/02\\\/premier-logo-v1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/02\\\/premier-logo-v1.png\",\"width\":272,\"height\":69,\"caption\":\"Effingham's News and Sports Leader, 979XFM and KJ Country 102.3\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ee6bedea7d78287f06d32d4260ef6b9a\",\"name\":\"Brian Herrmann\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/author\\\/brian-herrmann\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Joey Ray Washburn (73) - Effingham's News and Sports Leader, 979XFM and KJ Country 102.3","description":"Effingham's News and Sports Leader","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/obits\/41740-41740\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Joey Ray Washburn (73) - Effingham's News and Sports Leader, 979XFM and KJ Country 102.3","og_description":"Effingham's News and Sports Leader","og_url":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/obits\/41740-41740\/","og_site_name":"Effingham's News and Sports Leader, 979XFM and KJ Country 102.3","article_published_time":"2026-07-04T13:27:17+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-07-04T13:28:30+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1254,"height":1254,"url":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Washburn-J.-07.02.2026.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Brian Herrmann","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Brian Herrmann","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/obits\/41740-41740\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/obits\/41740-41740\/"},"author":{"name":"Brian Herrmann","@id":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/ee6bedea7d78287f06d32d4260ef6b9a"},"headline":"Joey Ray Washburn (73)","datePublished":"2026-07-04T13:27:17+00:00","dateModified":"2026-07-04T13:28:30+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/obits\/41740-41740\/"},"wordCount":422,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/obits\/41740-41740\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Washburn-J.-07.02.2026.png","articleSection":["Obituaries"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/obits\/41740-41740\/","url":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/obits\/41740-41740\/","name":"Joey Ray Washburn (73) - Effingham's News and Sports Leader, 979XFM and KJ Country 102.3","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/obits\/41740-41740\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/obits\/41740-41740\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Washburn-J.-07.02.2026.png","datePublished":"2026-07-04T13:27:17+00:00","dateModified":"2026-07-04T13:28:30+00:00","description":"Effingham's News and Sports Leader","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/obits\/41740-41740\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/obits\/41740-41740\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/obits\/41740-41740\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Washburn-J.-07.02.2026.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Washburn-J.-07.02.2026.png","width":1254,"height":1254},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/obits\/41740-41740\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Joey Ray Washburn (73)"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/","name":"Effingham's News and Sports Leader, 979XFM and KJ Country 102.3","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/#organization","name":"Effingham's News and Sports Leader, 979XFM and KJ Country 102.3","url":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/premier-logo-v1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/premier-logo-v1.png","width":272,"height":69,"caption":"Effingham's News and Sports Leader, 979XFM and KJ Country 102.3"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/ee6bedea7d78287f06d32d4260ef6b9a","name":"Brian Herrmann","url":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/author\/brian-herrmann\/"}]}},"modified_by":"Brian Herrmann","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41740","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41740"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41740\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41743,"href":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41740\/revisions\/41743"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41742"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41740"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41740"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41740"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}