The Joseph–Sheils Family of Oakland County
A Legacy of Family, Service, Creativity, and Promise
The Joseph family’s enduring connection to Oakland County was formally established in February 1970, when Harry Joseph and Sharon Hurren were united in marriage. From that union grew a family whose history would become deeply interwoven with the life of the county—through birth and marriage, public service and civic recognition, storytelling and authorship, and the quiet inheritance of values passed from one generation to the next.
Oakland County was not merely the setting of the family’s beginning. It became the ground upon which its identity was formed.
Harry and Sharon made their home within a family tradition already rooted in the county, where their parents—the grandparents of the generations that followed—also lived and built their lives. Their daughter, Sandra L. Joseph, was born in Oakland County in 1971. Their son, Harry Michael Joseph, was born there in 1975. Together, Sandra and Harry Michael represented the next generation of a family firmly established in the region and shaped by its communities, institutions, and opportunities.
At the center of this legacy stands a strong tradition of public duty.
Harry Joseph served with the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office, answering a calling that demanded courage, discipline, steadiness, and devotion to the welfare of others. His service formed an important chapter in the family’s history and gave lasting expression to the values of responsibility and civic commitment.
That tradition continued through his son. Harry Michael Joseph was later commended by the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office for his own service, carrying forward a family ideal that public service is both an honor and an obligation. Across generations, the Joseph family’s association with the Sheriff’s Office came to symbolize not only employment or recognition, but an enduring willingness to stand in service to the community.
The family’s contribution to Oakland County was also expressed through imagination, compassion, and the written word.
Sharon Hurren Joseph, a mother, storyteller, and author, wrote Ruban’s Rainbow. Her work reached beyond the family home and drew the attention of Oakland County news media. Through an interview devoted to Sharon and the story behind her writing, her voice became part of the county’s recorded cultural memory. That interview and the larger story were later preserved on YouTube, allowing her words, spirit, and creative legacy to continue reaching audiences beyond her own lifetime and beyond the borders of the county she called home.
Her authorship remains a testament to the power of one person’s imagination to leave an enduring mark. It also stands as a reminder that a family legacy is built not only through public office and formal commendation, but through the stories one has the courage to tell.
The family continued to grow when Harry Michael Joseph married Cori Lynn Sutton of South Lyon. Their marriage joined two Oakland County histories and opened a new chapter in the family’s generational story. Together, Harry Michael and Cori became the parents of two sons, Gabe and Mason.
Both boys have demonstrated notable athletic ability, determination, and strength of character. Their accomplishments in sports have brought pride to their family and have revealed, even in youth, the discipline and perseverance that have long characterized the generations before them.
A treasured family story has followed Mason since infancy.
While the family was staying at a hotel, an elderly Asian woman passing nearby stopped beside the infant. In a moment remembered for its gentleness and mystery, she placed her hand upon Mason’s head and declared that he would one day become President of the United States.
The woman departed, but her words remained.
Through the years, that unexpected blessing became part of the family’s oral history—a story carried forward not as a prediction to be demanded, but as a symbol of the promise seen within every new generation. It reflects the family’s belief that a child’s future should never be confined by the expectations of the present, and that greatness may first be recognized in the smallest and most ordinary of moments.
Sandra L. Joseph later married Andrew Sheils of Oakland County, continuing the family’s connection to the place where her own life began. Through their marriage, another Oakland County family history became joined to the Joseph legacy, carrying its story into a new name and a new generation.
The Oakland County hex was therefore chosen for the America250 map with deliberate meaning.
It represents the birthplace of Sandra and Harry Michael. It marks the county where Harry and Sharon were married and where their family was established. It honors the grandparents who resided there, the service given by father and son, the public recognition earned through duty, and the literary contribution Sharon offered through Ruban’s Rainbow. It also recognizes the marriages, children, achievements, family stories, and hopes that followed.
This hex is not simply a marker of geography.
It is a memorial to the people who came before, a record of those who served, a tribute to those who created, and a promise entrusted to those who will carry the family forward.
From the marriage of Harry Joseph and Sharon Hurren in February 1970 emerged a family defined by loyalty, resilience, public service, creative expression, and an unwavering belief in the possibilities of the future.
Their history belongs to Oakland County.
Their legacy belongs to the generations that follow.