Joanne Himmel was born on June 11, 1931 at the family homestead, in a place known as Hammel’s Branch in Hill County Texas. Joanne was the first of four children of a farming family and was the big sister “Sis” to three rambunctious brothers.
As a teenager, Joanne played the piano at the local church in Milford Texas and she attended Hillsborro High School, where she played clarinet in the band. Joanne went on to study music at North Texas State University (now University of North Texas) where she received a Bachelor of Music Degree in Education and Organ Performance.
After college, Joanne moved to Midland, Texas to be an elementary school music teacher, and there she met her future husband of 58 years, William Dawson Boyd (now deceased) in the young singles group of the First Methodist Church. The two newlyweds moved to El Paso in 1960 and were members of Asbury Methodist Church until 1969 when they transferred their membership to Trinity-First United Methodist Church where they were active members for over 50 years. During the years at Trinity-First, Joanne and Bill sang in the choir and Joanne led bible study classes.
A lifelong member of the United Methodist Church, Joanne played a large role in the establishment of the "Walk to Emmaus" movement in the New Mexico Methodist Conference. She was later selected as a Lay Leader of a Women's Emmaus Walk, and served on many other Teams for "Walks" in the New Mexico Conference.
Joanne was an accomplished musician who directed award-winning high school choirs at Andress High School and at Coronado High School. In addition to her undergraduate music degree, she received a Masters of Music Education degree from UTEP, and was founding member of the El Paso Alumni Chapter of Sigma Alpha Iota music sorority.
Joanne is survived by two children, David Alan Boyd and his wife Colleen of Sonoma County California, and Susan Boyd Booher and her husband Jim of El Paso, and two grandchildren, Emily Beth Booher of Mexico City and Anna Sophia Boyd of Burlington Vermont. She is also survived by two brothers, Robert Himmel of Midlothian, Texas, and Edwin Himmel of Montgomery Texas.
Joanne will be laid to rest next to her husband, Bill, at Restlawn Memorial Park, 4848 Alps Drive, El Paso, Texas. A celebration of life will be held at 2pm on June 10, 2022 at Trinity-First United Methodist Church, 801 N Mesa St.
For those who would like to honor Joanne’s memory, please direct any contributions to The Trinity-First UMC Sanctuary Choir Fund.
