Joyce J. Holmes

She was born in Kalamazoo, MI on April 3, 1932 to John James Horton and Cora Rebecca Pearl Courtney and is survived by her husband, Merle Dean Holmes.

Joyce was raised in and around Kalamazoo and attended Comstock High School receiving her GED later in life. In 1952, she met Merle, her soon-to-be husband. Her mother gently warned her of the danger of dating a brown-eyed man but she knew she had met the love of her life and Joyce and Merle were united in marriage on November 22, 1952. In 1965, after having four children in Kalamazoo, Joyce and family relocated to Brevard County, FL where she was employed by J.C. Penney for 25 years and retired as Office Supervisor.

Joyce and Merle recently celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary where they renewed their vows.

Joyce came to know Jesus as her personal savior in 1959 and believed her true calling was in service to the Lord. She taught Sunday school, held neighborhood five-day clubs and good news clubs for children, taught home Bible studies for women, served as a missionary to the Jewish community with the Bible Christian Union, and was an active member of the Christian Women’s Club of Brevard. Joyce maintained a strong and consistent faith in Jesus her Lord throughout her life. Anyone who knew her, from family to casual acquaintance, experienced the result of her steadfast faith through the love, grace, compassion, and caring she poured out upon everyone she met.

Joyce was preceded in death by her parents, two brothers, Jack Horton and Gene Stevens, a sister, Terri Johnson, and a son, Mark Alan Holmes. Joyce is survived by her husband Merle Holmes, a daughter Denise Holmes, two sons, Dave Holmes (Bret Mattingly) and Jack (Sherry) Holmes, one grandson, four great grandchildren, one brother, Robert Horton, three sisters, Janis Abernethy, Danielle Courtney-Stevens, and Linda Speece, numerous nieces and nephews. Joyce was a wonderful wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother and will be sorely missed by her family and friends.

Funeral services will be held at the Life Event Center at Florida Memorial in Rockledge, FL on Sunday, December 17 at 12:00 pm. Guest book condolences and expressions of sympathy, to be provided to the family, may be expressed through www.dignitymemorial.com.

Because of Joyce’s great love for animals, in lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA.org).