Joyce D. Gay

Joyce Domingue Gay, our beloved mother, grandmother, aunt and friend, was reunited with the love of her life, Robert Eldridge Gay, on Friday the 5th of February, 2010 at her home in Houston, Texas. She was 79 years old.

Joyce was born on the 7th of October, 1930, in New Iberia, Louisiana to Clara and Paul Domingue. As a teenager, she later moved to Houston, where she would spend the majority of her life. Joyce and her husband, Bob, also spent many years in Bastrop, Texas, where they embraced the community and formed many life long friendships.

Joyce lived a life rich with family, friends, admirable professional accomplishments and an abundance of unique experiences and adventures. One example of her professional accomplishments was her tenure as Vice President of Public Relations for the Mitchell Energy Corporation. Joyce was always full of varying interests and ambition, so she later founded and owned the Ars Longa Contemporary Art Gallery in Houston, one of the leading contemporary art galleries in the region at the time. She was also the Executive Director, Producer and Host of the award winning PBS program "The Joyce Gay Report". Part of her involvement in Bastrop included owning and operating several businesses, such as the Pecan Grove Plantation, the Bastrop Conference Center and a local restaurant.

Continuously curious about different cultures and seeking interesting life experiences, she pursued worldwide travel with many family members and friends. However her travels were not limited to just personal excursions, she also traveled with her professional associates and friends as part of her involvement with the Young Presidents Organization and World Presidents Organization.

While Joyce was obviously a highly accomplished businesswoman, her true passion in life was her family. Her happiest moments were times spent entertaining her children and extended family members at the farm and beach house that she shared with her beloved Bob. They always had a gang of people to enjoy their homes and time with.

She will be greatly missed by her surviving family members and friends."

She was preceded in death by her husband, Robert Eldridge Gay; parents, Clara Suter and Paul Domingue; brother, Willard "Buddy" Domingue and sister, Wilda Rogers. Mrs. Gay is survived by her children. Jack Paul Gay, Sr. and wife Ruth Hughes Gay, Robert Eldridge Gay, III and wife Tracy Banks Gay and Nanette Gay Carle; grandchildren, Robert Eldridge Gay, IV, Lauren Natalie Gay, Jack Paul Gay, Jr., Joyce Sarah Carle, Steven Eldridge Gay, Jacqueline Domingue Gay and Lily Kathryn Gay.

Friends are cordially invited to a visitation with the family from six until eight o’clock in the evening on Tuesday, the 9th of February at Geo. H. Lewis & Sons, 1010 Bering Drive in Houston.

The funeral service will be conducted at eleven o’clock in the morning on Wednesday, the 10th of February at St. Francis Episcopal Church, 345 Piney Point Road, where the Rev. Stuart A. Bates and the Rev. Kenneth Kesselus will officiate.

The interment service will immediately follow, via an escorted cortege, at Memorial Oaks Cemetery.