Joyce Darline Thornton

She preferred to go by Joyce D. rather than use her middle name because she and the great state of Texas differed on how it should be spelled. She believed that the official record-takers of the time had misspelled it and took it upon herself to correct that error. Texas, post-9-11, believed the official document should tell the story. So, begrudgingly, she “allowed” them to use that awful spelling so she was “allowed” to get a photo ID. She was particular.

Joyce D. was born to Russell and Mabel Derr (their correctly spelled names) in Sunbury, Pennsylvania on the family farm. Hospitals were for rich people, so the doctor and her mother alone bore witness to her birth.

When not tending the farm, her father worked a variety of jobs including that of a coal miner and her mother as a seamstress in a shirt factory.

She was the oldest of five children and soon became the second mother to her younger siblings, Lamar, Virginia, Howard, and Eileen. Her parents divorced in Joyce’s early adulthood, and her father and stepmother, Nadine, gave her two more siblings: Russell Jr. and Nadine.

For Joyce, her world revolved around the farm, her schooling, and her small country church. She loved riding the family horse, Prince, when he wasn’t needed for farm chores, and attending Christian youth events where she and brother Lamar learned to give sermons and to sing hymns while playing the guitar. She was a two-time ‘Mary’ in the Christmas pageant, even using a real-life infant as baby Jesus in her final performance.

She was a stylish woman that always looked her best. No outfit was complete unless it was properly pressed.

She believed in saying please and thank you, and had no use for anyone using foul language or engaging in deceit. She loved children and seniors; horses; her poodle, Mimi; travelling; and the Lord.

In 1951, she left the farm behind and hit the road with a girlfriend from work in an old ‘49 Chevy, following Route 66 from Chicago to find her fame and fortune in California. She didn’t find either, instead, making the acquaintance of a handsome sailor and a future that included a daughter and twin sons.

Many years later, she found her passion in the medical profession, becoming a medical assistant at the age of 41. That seven-week course provided her with the means and opportunity to help countless individuals for the rest of her life. She was humbly serving her fellow seniors as a caregiver until the age of 87.

She will forever be remembered as loving, kind, giving, tireless, compassionate, honest, adventurous, and particular. Strangers were only friends she hadn’t met yet.

She valued good health and sensible eating, but would occasionally step out with her friends to Taco Bell, Souplantation, and Home Town Buffet. She loved to cook and host and her Thanksgiving feasts were legendary among anyone invited.

She adapted and persevered through all of life’s curveballs, never once blaming God for her misfortune. All who knew her considered her a friend, and those that didn’t know her, well, maybe next time.

She is survived by many, but this isn’t about them. They know who they are.

Mom, rest in peace and divine love. You will be missed, but never forgotten.

The family of Joyce Thornton