Joyce Blue

Joyce Ann Thornton Blue died Tuesday, May 13, 2025, in Charlotte, NC. She was born July 6, 1935, the daughter of Paul William Thornton and Lucy Hall Thornton where she was reared in Gastonia, North Carolina. She spent happy summers growing up in the Smokey Mountains in Newport, Tennessee with her maternal relatives. Before graduating from Appalachian State University Summa Cum Laude in 1957 with a double major in English and Grammar School Education, she played first violin for the university orchestra, as well as singing in the choir. She had a life-long passion for classical music, as well as being a Charlotte Symphony Orchestra patron for decades. After graduation, she moved to Charlotte and was one of only two new beginning teachers hired by the Charlotte City Schools. She later returned to Appalachian and earned her master’s degree. In Charlotte, she met her future husband Lacy Wilson Blue who practiced law. They married on August 20, 1960, in Gastonia at First Wesleyan Methodist Church.

She joined First Presbyterian Church in Charlotte after her marriage and was a member until her death. For many years, she was an active member teaching Sunday School for sixth graders and two and three-year-olds, as well as being active in the prayer ministry and visiting the elderly and shut-ins, especially at Sharon Towers, where she resided for the last year of her life. She was especially proud of heading up as volunteer and establishing for the church, a tutoring program for underprivileged children in the public schools before integration which had over 100 church volunteers weekly tutoring elementary school children. She was a gourmet cook and maintained a cookbook collection of over 400 cookbooks. She was also active in state and local politics for many years, serving as a precinct officer and other roles for three decades. She taught in the Charlotte City Schools, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools and at the college level at the now defunct Burton Institute. She spent many years providing love, support and learning at JH Gunn Elementary School where she changed lives and inspired hope for hundreds of students while teaching in a high poverty school. Her husband, middle child John Wilson Blue, her parents and older sister Marilyn Thornton preceded her in death. She is survived by her oldest child Carolyn Hall Blue and her husband G. Lee Mikell of Charleston, SC, and her youngest child, Thomas W. Blue of Charlotte, NC, and sister Audrey Thornton of Gastonia, NC. A private funeral will be conducted by the Reverend Doctor Charles Williamson. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to First Presbyterian Church TV Ministry at 200 W Trade St, Charlotte NC 28202.