Joseph Yunker Kenlan
Joseph Kenlan Obituary
Mr. Joseph Yunker Kenlan, age 78 of Moncure, NC transitioned to eternal rest on Saturday, May 2, 2026 at UNC Medical Center, Chapel Hill, NC.
Joe Kenlan's Celebration of Life, June 20, 2026 from 1:00-3:00pm
The Plant
220 Lorax Ln
Pittsboro, NC, 27312
All stonework featured above is original work completed by Joe.
The Obituary
Joseph Yunker Kenlan, age 78, passed away on May 2, 2026 after complications following heart surgery. His was truly a generous heart, and he was a beloved member of his community in Chatham County, NC and beyond. He will be greatly missed by his wife, Janice Reives, his daughters Katie and Tess and many other dear friends and family.
Joe was born on September 24, 1947 in Montclair, New Jersey, the third of eight children of Edward Ormond Kenlan and Katherine Elizabeth Yunker Kenlan. His first home was in the small town of Ralston near Mendham, NJ. He lived there with 3 of his siblings and Tinker, their black cocker spaniel. He had fond memories of a farm near his family’s cottage and their home backed up to a large forest he loved, much like the woods he later found in NC. Theirs was a close-knit Irish-Catholic family, and as it grew, they moved into the big old rambling house that had belonged to Joe’s maternal grandparents Joseph and Agnes Yunker. Joe also had many memories of happy summers at Cape Cod as a child.
Joe attended Stonehill College in Taunton, Massachusetts and graduated in1969 as an English major. He stayed on in Taunton as a reporter for the local paper, until neighbors on his block (who were from North Carolina) invited him to drive down to NC in 1972 to see the land they had bought on Rock Rest Road near the Haw River in Chatham County. Joe was excited about the idea of living in the woods and agreed to fix up the very old cabin on the land in exchange for living there. He packed up and traded his Mustang for a pickup truck and began his life in Chatham County NC. He was joined by a friend and then his brother Tom, and they restored the cabin to live in. He was one of the first “new” residents of Rock Rest, an abandoned community dating back to the late 1770’s, that became the home to a new generation of “back to the landers”.
Joe worked as a reporter at the Chapel Hill News under renowned editor Jim Schumaker, before beginning his long career as a stone mason. He had learned to lay block and brick for his uncle when he was a teenager. He teamed up with Steve Magers, a Chatham County mason and author of books on stonework and fireplace building. Together Joe and Steve set about reviving the craft of dry laid and other vanishing styles of stone masonry. Joe later became part of a new guild of stone masons, gathered by Tomas Lipps, who went on to create The Stone Foundation, where Joe and other master masons, such as his dear friend Toru Oba, shared knowledge and taught workshops across the country and overseas in the old style. Joe’s work in North Carolina became widely respected, and he was joined by his new partner, Mike Yarborough, and later Tino Cruz, and he mentored many other masons. His beautiful stone foundations, fireplaces and other works were recognized in Fine Homebuilding and local journals and newspapers.
In 1977 Joe married Elaine Chiosso. Together, they bought the land they lived on, and with help from friends and neighbors, they added a large addition to the cabin, which included his first masonry stove. They adopted Katherine Chiosso Kenlan in 1985 and Teresa Chiosso Kenlan in 1990. Joe would often return home after work to play softball and basketball with his daughters or teach them how to fish at nearby Dry Creek. Rock Rest was a community full of artists, farmers, activists and lovers of nature that helped build each other’s houses and community projects, including the amphitheater that was home to concerts, plays and the summer solstice celebrations, where Joe was part of the infamous doo wop group “The Milkduds”. He formed a lifelong friendship in Rock Rest with his dear buddy, Tom Marriott. Joe and Elaine’s marriage ended in 2001.
Joe became a practitioner of Zen Buddhism over 30 years ago, joining the North Carolina Zen Center and helping to build the Brooks Branch Zendo with abbot Sandy Stewart. Joe later joined Ken Simon in establishing Downtown Dharma in Pittsboro, which grew to involve many more practitioners. Joe recently said to Ken that working with stone was no different than his Zen practice, which was about being more present and kind. Putting the stones where he placed them was a practice for him. Zen was a central and deep part of his life, in his heart and in his work. He continued his Zen practice for many decades alongside his friend and mentor Sandy.
Joe created a new life for himself with Janice Rieves in the Pittsboro Moncure Rd. community near Abeyance, south of Pittsboro. Joe and Janice fell in love through art, friendship, and community. The two were a staple at the potlucks at the annual neighborhood Trail Crawl and at Shakori Hills. They were neighbors on Nota Rd for a few years before Joe and Janice lived together in the little purple house with her two daughters, Emily and Alyssa. Janice also has a son, Josh, who is in the military, and gave Joe the chance to be a grandfather to his son Andrew. Joe and Janice were partners for many years before they married in 2020 at the magistrate’s office with their dear friends Scotty Young and Diane Swan as witnesses. Joe and Janice’s artistry is evident throughout their home and land, and in many places throughout Chatham County and beyond. Visiting a dear friend, they fell in love with the community in Celo, near the Black Mountains and South Toe River, and he built the stone wall around the Celo green burial grounds. Over the years they made many special memories, traveling to Paris and Majorca, kayaking, dancing, eating, laughing with their friends, and building a quiet, sweet, intentional life together as partners in that little purple house on Nota Rd.
His work with stone continued, and widened to include sculpture projects such as the 9/11 memorial at the original Chatham Arts Council off of Hwy 64, and the stone building that houses Chris Drury’s “Cloud Chamber for the Trees and Sky” camera obscura at the NC Arts Museum sculpture grounds. Many of his works were featured in sculpture shows, including the NC Botanical Garden. Joe was a member of the Chatham Arts Guild and part of the annual art tour.
Joe was a poet, writer, musician and great reader, as well as a very funny guy. His calm spirit and kindness brought peace to many people. He loved playing the game of Pétanque, first learned in Celo, and at the court he built at The Plant, where perhaps his spirit is still at play.
Joe is survived by his wife Janice, his two daughters, Katie and Tess, his stepdaughters Emily and Alyssa, his stepson Josh, his former wife, Elaine, and his brothers Edward, Tom, John, and Mike, his sisters Mary Johnsen, Ann Kelly, and Susan Derector, as well as the sibling’s partners Richard Derector, Pat Hickey Kenlan, George Kelly, Jeanine Cruz Kenlan, Chris Liloia, Patty Frunzi Kenlan and his many nieces and nephews - Brian, Erin and Laura Kelly, Michael Vincent, Matthew and Allie Kenlan, Jake Derector and the twins Tom and Liz Kenlan.
A Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday June 20 from 1-3 pm at The Plant on Lorax Lane in Pittsboro. In lieu of flowers his family asks that donations be made to a new Joe Kenlan Native Plant fund that will be used for native plantings in the area where he lived, in his memory. Donations can be made to: The Tree Museum at www.theplantnc.com/post/joe-kenlan-memorial
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