The funeral service for Joseph Maas will be at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, October 1, 2015 at Trinity Lutheran Church, 222 6th Avenue SW, in Rochester with Pastor Nathaniel Schwartz officiating. Burial will be in the Little Cedar Lutheran Cemetery in Adams, MN, with Military Rites by the Adams American Legion Post.

Mr. Maas passed away Tuesday morning, September 22, 2015, with his wife, Diane, at his bedside, at River Bend Loving Connections in Rochester of Lewy Body Dementia.
Joseph Jay Maas was born July 11, 1939 to Joseph and Marian (Siercks) Maas. He attended elementary school in Lake City and graduated in 1957 from Faribault High School in Faribault before attending Macalester College.

He entered the Minnesota National Guard before Graduation and graduated from the Minnesota Military Academy Officer Candidate School on July 27, 1963. He later transferred to the Army Reserves and served his country for a total of ten years, being honorably discharged at the rank of First Lieutenant-Infantry on December 11, 1967.

He graduated from the Reppert Auction School on August 14, 1959 and entered the family auction business, while attending and graduating from Mankato State University in 1965, with a degree in economics and business administration.

On June 19, 1965, he was united in marriage with Diane Sathre at Little Cedar Lutheran Church in Adams, MN; they began their married life in Plainview, MN, where Diane began her teaching career and Joe continued to build his auction career within the family business structure started in 1920 by his father, Joseph Maas. Joe's uncle, Albert Maas, later joined the business and the two brothers conducted over 10,000 auctions by 1959 as Maas Brothers. Joe partnered in the business under the name Maas and Maas at that time.

In 1966, while still associated with the auction business, Joe formed a real estate brokerage. When he sold Maas Realty in 1978, the company had grown to 100 employees and had sales representatives throughout Minnesota. Its 1978 sales were in excess of $50 million in listings and sales volume. Joe was the recipient of several national awards for his expertise in real estate.
In 1970, Joe formed a construction company, Jason Enterprises, building residential and commercial properties, as well as apartments and subdivisions throughout southern Minnesota.
He began marketing properties nationally when he began working with the Lutheran Synod Foundations overseeing liquidation and management of Synod properties throughout the country. From this base, he merged his expertise in auctions and real estate into a national and international business. Because of the success of those liquidations, he was invited to Washington, D.C. to assist in the writing of national liquidation guidelines for several government agencies. He then conducted auctions using the new guidelines and sold thousands of properties all across the country. In 1987, he conducted the largest residential house auction to date, selling 445 homes with 3500 bidders in attendance. He continued auctions as his life time career until he became ill. His wife and children remain in the auction business, making Maas Companies a third generation legacy.

Joe was past president of the Rochester Board of Realtors and past director of the Minnesota State Realtors Association; memberships have included National Auctioneers Association, Minnesota State Auctioneers Association, National Association of Realtors, Investment Recovery Association, Turnaround Management Association, Institute of Farm and Land Brokers, the Minnesota Property Exchangers and International Association of Corporate Real Estate Executives. He served as president of Trinity Lutheran Church and Immanuel Lutheran Church, as well as serving on the board directors of the Rochester YMCA, the Hiawatha Children's Home, Courage Center and as advisor for Luther College and funder of the Art program at Rochester Central Lutheran School.

Joe was a people person and touched the lives of many; he was always willing to go the extra mile. It is fitting to give special thanks to Dr. Denise Dupras, Mayo Clinic, Pastor Nathaniel Schwartz, Trinity Lutheran Church, Mayo Hospice staff and the staff at River Bend Loving Connections because every one of them went the extra mile for Joe and his family, as he passed through the stages of Lewy Body Dementia.

Joe is survived by and will be deeply missed by his loving wife, Diane, his daughter, Allison (Brad) Guyton, his son, Tyler (Elsa) Maas and his grandchildren, Payton, Parker, Tyler, and Ava; his sister Charlotte (Harold) Peters and his sisters and brothers-in-law, Lynn (Jane) Sathre, John (Susie) Sathre, Beth (David) Voigt, Jim (Connie) Sathre, David Sathre, Carrie (Jeff) Anderson and many beloved nieces, nephews and cousins. He was preceded in death by his parents and his parents-in-law, Harvey and Alice Sathre.

Friends and family may visit from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, September 30, 2015 at Ranfranz & Vine Funeral Homes, 5421 Royal Place NW, in Rochester, and one hour prior to the service at the church on Thursday.