Joel Ward Tabler

March 9, 2021

Joel Ward Tabler, 62, of Dumfries, Virginia died on March 9, 2021 at home surrounded by his family. He was born October 11, 1958 in Washington DC and would spend the rest of his life in the Northern Virginia area. Always a self-starter, he graduated from the University of Virginia where he made lifelong friends and received a BA in Chemistry. During his life, he worked as a phlebotomist, a real estate agent, and as a pharmaceutical sales representative for the same pharmaceutical company for over 35 years. Always passionate about medicine, he loved his job and loved building long lasting relationships with doctors and staff. Through his work as a pharmaceutical sales representative, he made many friends and became an advocate for Vietnamese Human Rights. For 28 years, he helped to organize and attend May 11th, Vietnamese Human Rights Day. On October 1, 1994, he married the love of his life, Joan, in Waldorf, Maryland. They were lovingly devoted to each other for 26 years and had two children: Grant (1998) and Morgan (2000). His children were the pride and joy of his life and he spent many hours chauffeuring, coaching, and adopting whatever interest they had just to spend time together. He never missed the opportunity to videotape any important event. Joel loved to listen to Grant sing and enjoyed finding new songs to request from him. In 2018, he was awarded, the Best Barn Dad award in recognition of the countless hours he spent mucking stalls, cleaning the barn, and videotaping Morgan ride. Some of Joel’s fondest memories included watching movies outside by the fire, spending hours talking with Joan, helping Morgan pursue her passion of riding horses, and visiting Grant while he was studying abroad in France. Joel is survived by his wife, Joan, son, Grant, and daughter, Morgan. He will be remembered as a selfless husband, father, and friend to many. A viewing will be held at Miller Funeral home on Friday, March 12th 2021 from 12 PM to 3 PM with a small service and celebration of life to follow at 3PM. In lieu of flowers, gifts in memory of Joel Tabler may be directed to support Prostate Cancer Research at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center. Please make checks payable to Johns Hopkins University. Gifts may be mailed with a memo indicating that this gift is in memory of Joel Tabler to the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, PO Box 17029 Baltimore, MD 21297-1029 or make a gift online at www.hopkinscancer.org