Joyce P. Walke

Joyce Marie Proctor was born in Abilene, Texas, May 7, 1928. She was raised by her mother, Margie, and the large and loving Kuykendall family in various small towns around Texas during the Depression. In 1946, Joyce married a dashing young Air Force pilot, E.P. Walke, Jr., and for the next 66 years they traveled the world and shared a great life together, raising three sons with grit and humor. Joyce learned to be flexible and adept as an Air Force wife. She drove herself with a toddler to Newfoundland and later traveled with an infant and two small children in tow through Europe to meet her husband in Turkey. She became a seasoned traveler and was used to moving frequently, usually to one end of the U.S. or the other, to places like California, Florida and Virginia. The family finally landed more or less permanently in Del City, Oklahoma, where they lived for 52 years. Joyce worked in retail sales and a business office and was a Mary Kay consultant. She created many beautiful oil and watercolor paintings. She enjoyed cooking and creating a warm and inviting home. E.P. and Joyce traveled in E.P.’s Cessna 210 to visit family and old friends from the Air Force and to reunions of the Air Rescue Association. Together they survived the great tornado of May 3, 1999 that destroyed their house and together they re-built at the same address. Following E.P.’s sudden death in 2012, Joyce continued to live in their home until 2017, when she moved to Veraden, an independent living center in Edmond, Oklahoma, to be near her son, Geary.

Joyce was preceded in death by her devoted husband, E.P., and her beloved youngest son, Brian. She is survived by her sons Gregory (and wife Patricia) and Geary (and wife Barbara), her daughter-in-law Melody Walke, her grandchildren Justin, Adam (and wife Nohemi), Collin (and wife Lori), Devon (and wife Jennifer), and Maliah Wilson (and husband Kyle), and her great-granddaughters Salynn and Penelope Walke. Joyce was known as Granny to her much-loved grandchildren and great-granddaughters, and she delighted in participating in their lives.

A memorial service will be held at Bill Eisenhour Funeral Home, 5005 SE 29th Street in Del City at 2:00 PM on Wednesday, October 2, 2019. No flowers please. Contributions may be made to Brian Jay Walke Ethics in Journalism Endowed Scholarship (mail to UCO Foundation, 100 N. University Ave., Box 133, Edmond, OK 73034).