Joyce Taylor Barcellona

Betty Joyce Taylor, beloved mother, wife and teacher, passed away early Thursday morning, February 13, 2025, after a fierce battle with Alzheimer’s. Joyce departed this life in her own home surrounded by her three children. She had to endure the loss of her second child, Brian in 2019; and beloved husband, Sam, passed away just 5 months earlier.

Joyce was born in the "Gentilly" neighborhood in New Orleans, LA., the daughter of Russell Gordon Taylor and Dolores Westell Arnold Taylor. Her early childhood was spent in New Orleans in the company of her devoted extended family. When Joyce was 10 years old, her parents began moving to several naval post assignments during WWII. Following the war, her mother moved the family back to New Orleans where she attended McMain High School. She graduated from McMain in 1948 and during her senior year she met her future husband, Sam Salvador Barcellona, on a blind date to his high school dance.

After graduation, Joyce and Sam began undergraduate studies at LSU. As a first-year education major, she was a member of the Tigers Softball team and elected to become a Golden Girl. Sam was a business major and a member of the Tigers Baseball team. They both shared a love of sports and enjoyed dancing. They were married June 17, 1950. After graduating from LSU with a Bachelor of Arts in Education, Joyce and Sam moved back to New Orleans, where she began work with a major oil company and started their family with the arrival of Bruce in 1951.

In 1959, after having her second son, Brian, Joyce and Sam moved to Baton Rouge. There, Joyce began her career as an instructor of the 4th grade at St. Thomas Moore School. Joyce and Sam welcomed two more girls, Bonnie in 1962 and Becki in 1965. She spent the ‘60s raising her four children and volunteering in several capacities for the Junior League of Baton Rouge.

In 1968, Joyce and Sam moved to Jackson, Mississippi. Joyce joined the teaching staff at St. Richard Catholic School and completed her master's degree, in education, at Millsaps College in Jackson. Joyce and Sam were active in both St. Richard’s School and the church community. She often fondly reminisced about her friends and fellow teachers. She truly valued her role as a teacher. Joyce was a very popular teacher and was very proud of her work with her students. She would recall the personality of each year’s class. The overachievers, the hard workers, and those who struggled to make the grade, eventually succeeding. Throughout the years, Joyce was a mentor and educator to them all. She instilled the belief that hard work is necessary, idleness is to be avoided, and seemingly impossible problems could be solved through prayer and “one bite at a time’. While at St. Richard’s, she taught several elementary and secondary grades completing her 30-year teaching career.

Joyce enjoyed a second career with the EF Foundation as a coordinator for Mississippi. She loved placing international high school students with families statewide to experience a US education and cultural experience. Sam soon joined her. Together they found another avenue to mentor the next generation.

Joyce and Sam lived a lifetime of memories. Moments of joy and some of despair. They celebrated the accomplishments of their children. They endured tragedies, none greater than the loss of their son, Brian. The one constant was that they were together. They worked together, served their family together, and traveled the world together. Sam’s last expressed thoughts were of love and concern for Joyce. They shared a connection that could not be broken.

Joyce will join those closest to her that passed before her. Her beloved husband of 74 years, Sam Barcellona; her son Brian (Charlotte) Barcellona; her granddaughter, Brooke Samantha Wineland; and her parents Louis and Delores Arnold Sanzone.

Joyce’s life was shared and survived by her children; Bruce (Maureen) Barcellona, Bonnie Barcellona Cameron, Becki (Ronald) Connally, Charlotte Hampton Barcellona; and grandchildren, Brett Connally, Christopher Barcellona, James Cameron, Austin Connally, Victoria (Bradley) Wilcher, Brenden Barcellona, Olivia (Joseph) Fox, Reese Connally, and Cecelia Connally; her great-grandchildren; Bradley Burleigh, Ezrah Wineland, Serrah Wineland, Iyla Connally, Caroline Fox, Callie Fox, Kennedy Wilcher, and soon to arrive- Baby Boy Wilcher.

An ever-present teacher, some of her last words were, “You have to love. Love is everything.”

A memorial service will be held for Joyce on Saturday, February 22, 2025, at St. Richard Catholic Church, located at 1242 Lynwood Dr, Jackson, MS 39206. The Visitation will start at 11 AM and conclude at 12 Noon. A Mass will immediately follow the Visitation starting at 12 Noon and lasting until 1PM. Following the Mass, an escorted funeral procession will form at the front of the Church and proceed to the Parkway Memorial Cemetery, at 1161 Highland Colony Parkway, Ridgeland, MS 39157. A short graveside blessing at the Parkway Memorial Mausoleum will conclude the service.

The family wishes to thank Sharon Moore for her devoted caregiver services, she made a difficult situation bearable for the family. Joyce will be greatly missed.