Joseph Yakel was born and raised in the Albany, NY area. He is the tenth of 11 children, and a retired Army officer. His ancestry is strongly rooted to Germany, with particular family concentrations on both of his parent’s sides of the family, to localities such as Stuttgart, Pfauhausen, Wallhausen, Hergenfeld, and Klingenmunster. Joe enjoys writing and researching family history and military-related subject matter in his spare time. Over the years, he has published numerous articles in trade magazines, as well as several books. “The Autograph Memories of Mary Yakel”, ISBN 1-4116-2101-8, released in 2004, is a collection of personal notations from family and friends of his grand aunt, dating back to the late 1800’s. His book, “The Jackel, Jaeckel, Jeckel, Iekel, Yakel Family History Book” was originally published in 2005, and re-published in 2026 with more than 50 pages of additional material. A third book, “The Legend of Juggin Joe”, ISBN 1-4116-2588-9, is a humorous fiction tale about the life story of a country boy from the hilltown of Westerlo, NY. Joe’s books are available from Lulu.com.