T. Bob Joyce

T. Bob Joyce, 77, of Mansfield, passed away Sunday, May 6, 2012, in Fort Smith. He was born March 30, 1935 Robert and Dorothy Park Thompson Joyce. He was retired President of JLS Enterprises and of the Baptist faith. He was preceded in death by his parents, a son Steven Robert Joyce, and two sisters, J’Ann Cass and Dorothy Ranz.

T. Bob Joyce was a one and a half pound baby who became a giant of a man.

It was not as much about the number of people he led but the number of leaders he created.

It was not as much about the jobs he created but the livelihoods he sustained.

It was not as much about being a business and manufacturing executive on an international level as

it was baking everyone’s birthday cake but his own.

It was not as much about the house he built with his own hands on his family homestead

as rocking on the front porch with his wife and children.

It was not as much about the patents he held in Washington as

it was about the wife he held in his arms in Mansfield. It was not as much about business sense as it was common sense.

It was not as much about the home at the lake as the fish he took from it.

A wise philosopher once said “Life begins at forty,” but a wise man from Mansfield lived it.

A humble man from a simple place found the strongest medicine in a grandchild’s face.

He is survived by his wife Carolyn Ann Joyce of the home; three daughters Diane Hart of Fort Smith, Connie Lang of Fort Smith and Angel Hallauer of Johnson, AR; a son Preston Turner III of Las Vegas, NV; two sisters Dana Holston of Littleton, CO and Linda Joyce of Tulsa; one brother J.C. Joyce of Tulsa; 9 grandchildren and 7 great grandchildren.

Funeral service will be 3:00 PM Thursday, May 10, 2012, at Edwards Funeral Home Chapel. Visitation will be 5:00 to 7:00 PM Wednesday, May 9, 2012 at Edwards Funeral Home. Private family burial will be held at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Hamilton House Child and Safety Center, 2713 South 74th Street, Suite 103, Fort Smith, AR 72903.