Joe A. Stovall

Joe A. Stovall was born on the south side of Chicago at Cook County Hospital on March 9th, 1964. He is the youngest child of four of the late Robert L. Stovall and Claudyne Stovall. When Joe was around three years old, his family moved to Champaign. Joe grew up in Champaign on the corner of 1st and Church St. He attended Booker T. Washington Elementary School and was one of the original members of the Boys Club, along with his older brother, Robert Jr. He attended Edison Middle School and graduated from Central H.S. in 1982. Joe was involved in various activities in high school. He was an honor roll student and lettered his junior & senior year in basketball.

Joe attended Quincy College in the fall of 1982. He was a member of the Quincy Hawks varsity basketball team. Joe majored in Mathematics while attending Quincy. When he recognized he was vertically challenged (too short!), he decided to transfer to Illinois State University in Normal. There, he majored in Chemistry and received his B.S. in 1988.

After graduation, Joe worked for Dow Chemical in Midland, MI, in their Technical Services and Development Department until 1989. There, he worked with polymer plastics for over one year. One project he worked on was lining plastic cereal bags with Saran to increase the shelf-life of cereal. This is now done by Post Cereal for their various cereals.

After Dow Chemical, Joe became an employee with State Farm Insurance. At State Farm, he has held several positions: Claim Rep., Sr. Claim Rep., Claim Spec., and Claim Support Supervisor. In 1996, Joe was recruited into the agency force. He became an agent with State Farm in 1997. He currently runs his own agency in Champaign.

Joe is heavily involved in the community. He is the President of the Urban Business Network. He was Board President of the Don Moyer's Boys & Girls Club, beginning in April 2004. He is an avid supporter of the Urban League of Champaign County. He is a sponsor, coach, and volunteer for 1st String, Inc., Instructor for the Junior Achievement program, and Mentor's through the Talks mentoring program.

Joe is married to Elizabeth Stovall. They have two sons: Jamir and Jamal. They currently reside in Champaign.