Joyce A. Clasen Thorssen

The Lord gently took our Mother, Grandmother, and Great-Grandmother to her heavenly home early Thursday morning April 29, 2010. Joyce Adelaide Bertha Pihlstrom was born January 19, 1915 in Fairmount, North Dakota to Charles F. and Pearl Pihlstrom.

Joyce's early childhood was spent in Warren, MN where her grandmother ran a boarding house. This is where Joyce learned and developed her gift of hospitality. When Joyce was 12, her father took a position in Tacoma, WA, as a Covenant youth minister. It was during this time that Joyce asked Jesus into her heart as her Lord and Savior. Later, their family relocated to Spokane, WA, where Joyce spent the balance of her teen years. She graduated in 1933 from Lewis and Clark High School where she met her brother's best friend and eventually, her second husband Albert E. Thorssen.

After graduating from high school, Joyce entered Deaconess Hospital School of Nursing in Spokane. She later transferred and graduated from Saint Elizabeth School of Nursing in Yakima after her father was called and accepted a position with the Selah Covenant Church. While living in Selah, Joyce met her first husband, Gotfred E. Clasen through a church affiliation with the Wiley Heights Covenant Church. Joyce and Gotfred were married June 23, 1937. They began their life together in Yakima where she worked at St E's while Gotfred and his brother, Ferris Clasen, started an apple packing company in the Wiley Heights area. Later, they purchased a warehouse in Ahtanum, which became Clasen Fruit and Cold Storage.

While living in Yakima they had 3 children; Gene Paul, Nancy Louise, and Wayne Thomas. Joyce was dedicated to her family, supportive of her husband's church and community involvement as well as diligent in her own commitments. She served on many church boards and committees as well as taught Sunday school and sang in the choir. On special occasions, Joyce would perform on the local radio singing some of her favorite hymns.

On August 5, 1959 Joyce's husband Gotfred, unexpectedly passed away. Joyce spent the following 8 years caring for her parents and helped to maintain her late husband's growing business (Clasen Fruit). She also raised her children while working, first at Memorial Hospital for 5 years, then 3 years at Summitview Nursing Home.

While on a vacation with her parents in Canada, Joyce's mother suggested they try to locate former friends from Spokane, the Thorssens, who were now farming south of Calgary, Alberta. That meeting reconnected Joyce with her brother's friend, Albert, and she rediscovered the embers of their old friendship. Joyce and AI were married in the Wiley Heights Covenant Church on June 25, 1967. Joyce moved to Canada where she and Albert lived for 37 years in a home they built in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.