She was born in Stephenville, TX on September 20, 1927, and was adopted by Claud and Mildred Rowe Nicholson two months later. She lived a happy childhood during the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl in her hometown of Enid, Oklahoma.
Joyce attended Enid High School where she was the Homecoming queen. She then graduated from The University of Oklahoma where she studied Social Work and was a member of the Pi Beta Phi Sorority and Women's Golf Team.
In July 1948 Joyce married her lifelong friend, Robert (Bob) S. Everitt, also a resident of Enid and a graduate of the University of Oklahoma.
Following Bob's service in the Korean War in 1953, Joyce and Bob, along with their two young sons, moved to Fort Collins, CO where they lived an abundant life which included the happy addition of their third child, a little girl. While Bob was actively growing his lumber company, and expanding into residential and commercial land development companies, Joyce was busy in community activities in her own arenas. She and Bob were seemingly inseparable, supporting one another in all their community and family activities with humility and their fun-loving ways. Joyce helped to charter the Pi Beta Phi house on the campus of Colorado State University (known then as Colorado A&M), and she was one of the founding members of the Fort Collins Children's Theater in 1958. She was also a strong supporter of the Fort Collins Symphony Orchestra and the Fort Collins Opera. In the early years of the Ft. Collins Lincoln Center, she served on several of the event selection committees. Bob and Joyce were also one of the founding members of the Fort Collins Country Club where they, along with family and friends, enjoyed many memorable events and activities.
Throughout her life she was athletic and participated in many different sports including tennis, golf, downhill and cross-country skiing, hiking, and fly-fishing. She enjoyed traveling the world with Bob, and they often included many of their friends or their children and grandchildren in their adventures.
Joyce was also creative and artistic. She had a wonderful eye for the whimsical, which was on display when she and her daughter-in-law, Sara, started a crafting business called 'Mini-Series Elf Houses'. Together they built miniature houses for collectable elves and gnomes, delighting the young at heart. A lover of nature, Joyce also excelled in the delicate art of fine woodcarving. She traveled weekly to Denver for many years to refine her skills with a Master wood carver. Her realistic birds and woodland critters were so fine and lifelike that even up close they could be mistaken for the real thing. Many of her friends and acquaintances commissioned her to carve pieces for them.
Joyce was a member of the Christian Science Church in Fort Collins and The Mother Church in Boston, Massachusetts, and was a long-time member of P.E.O.
Above all else, Joyce was passionate about her role as a wife and mother. She was their greatest cheerleader in all respects. She was an encourager, a leader and an example of good sportsmanship and exemplary character. Something everyone who encountered Joyce will always remember was her quick wit and sense of humor. Always uplifting, she was ever the optimist and she lived a life full of joy, love and vitality.
Joyce was preceded in death by her husband, Robert (Bob) Everitt, in February 2016. Also preceding her in death was her sister, Beverly Bell and brother-in-law, Leslie G. (Bud) Everitt. She is survived by her three children, David (Ann), Stanley (Sara), and Claudia Gillum (Jack), seven grandchildren, Allison, Aaron, Grant, Lane, Amanda, Ryan and Kelly, 19 great-grandchildren, her nephews, Larry and Doug Everitt and a niece, Leslie Sweatt.
Arrangements for a future Celebration of Life gathering are pending.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Fort Collins Children's Theater or the Fort Collins Symphony Orchestra, in care of Allnutt Drake Chapel, 650 W. Drake Road, Fort Collins, CO. 80526.
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