Joyce was born November 9, 1931 to Thomas and Cecilia Thiell, the youngest of five children. Joyce grew up in the Detroit area attending lower, middle and high school. Joyce’s parents divorced when she was twelve years old and Joyce began working while in high school to support her beloved mother and herself.
At that time, Detroit was a hip and happening place. In the 1950’s Joyce regularly attended dances sponsored by the local Catholic church. There she met Maurice Beshouri, an American trained engineer who had immigrated from Iraq. They married on April 21, 1956 and subsequently had three children, Greg, Sharon and Debbie while residing first in Dearborn and then Grand Blanc, Michigan. Joyce and Maurice later moved to Phoenix, Arizona where they retired. In 2004 they moved to Houston, Texas to be near Sharon and her two daughters.
Joyce and Maurice shared a love of travel, music and dancing throughout their life together. Family members and friends all fondly remembered Joyce as a fun, happy and upbeat person who cherished large family gatherings with all the relatives. Later in life Joyce took up clowning and visiting hospitals as a way to share that joy in life. A devout Catholic, Joyce and Maurice were active in parish life through the years at the churches where they were members, most recently at St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Church in Houston.
Special thanks to the staff at The Forum at Memorial Woods and Family Tree In-Home Care for their kindness and support to Joyce, Maurice and the family.
Joyce is survived by her husband Maurice, her children Greg Beshouri and partner Susan Bothwell, Sharon Beshouri and husband Kirk Geno and Debbie Bloch and husband Randy Bloch, and her grandchildren Madeleine Geno, Eleanor Geno and Dart Kaufmyn-Beshouri. We all were blessed sharing in Joyce’s life journey and will miss her greatly.
