Elizabeth Joyce Dever

all her family and friends. She was born

December 1, 1943 in Santa Ana, California, to

Harry J. Dever and Mary Ford Dever. Joyce

attended Santa Ana High School, where she was

active in Student Government and drama

productions. After graduating in 1961, she

attended Redlands University and then

transferred to UCLA, where she majored in

drama and pledged Pi Beta Phi Sorority. The

UCLA Drama Department awarded Joyce with

the highest acting award upon her graduation in

1965. This led to Joyce's acceptance by the

London Academy of Dramatic Art and Music

where she continued her theater studies for

several years.

In 1968, Joyce returned to the United States,

where she joined the Ashland Shakespeare

Festival for the summer and then spent a year at

the American Conservatory Theater's (ACT)

Program in San Francisco. To increase her

career opportunities, Joyce then moved to New

York City and reconnected with another friend

from ACT, George Taylor. George had also

studied under Bill Ball with Joyce in the late 60's.

Joyce lived in a women's residency on a

beautiful tree-lined West 13th Street where

George's girlfriend, Barbara, and Joyce became

fast friends. Barbara remembers those years as

some of the happiest of Joyce's life. She was in

a relationship, optimistic about her acting career

and finding some success with small roles in TV,

commercials and the theater. Joyce left NYC to

return to California after six years but remained

in contact with George and Barbara.

Joyce settled in a lovely apartment in Park La

Brea in Los Angeles and continued to pursue

acting possibilities while reconnecting with her

LA theater friends from UCLA days. She found

roles in small theater productions and television

while making regular appearances in various TV

productions including "Port Charles" and "General Hospital". Also,

during these years, her now-married NY friends,

George and Barbara, visited her several times

enjoying lots of fun and laughter. Other friends

from growing up years in Orange County also

stayed in close contact when Joyce returned to

LA. She was visited by and was especially close

to Florence Sanchez, Susan Standish and Lynn

Haye.

Joyce also held several significant secretarial

positions over the next twenty years as she

worked to support herself while continuing to

pursue acting. Joyce worked for Casablanca

Records until the company effectively shut down

in the early 1980s. In 1981 Joyce went to work

for Davis, Johnson, Mogol, & Columbatto

(DJMC). She was the professional assistant for

Daryl Eagle, a senior account manager for Ole's

hardware stores. Her work at DJMC was wellregarded

and she became quite close to two

other professionals in the Agency, Mike

Trueblood and Richard Pokress. Although Mike

and Richard worked in different parts of the

Agency - they both knew Joyce and would

eventually reconnect by phone when Mike

visited Joyce in Pasadena.

During the 80's Joyce also became very involved

in the formation of the Metropolitan Museum of

Contemporary Art (MOCA) in LA, serving as

secretary to the Artist's Organizing Committee

until the museum opened. In the late 1980s

Joyce accepted employment as Administrative

Assistant for the John and Dora Haynes

Foundation in Los Angeles. She stayed with this

Foundation until 1996 when she began to

experience some serious health problems.

Unfortunately, as Joyce's medical condition

continued to worsen, she was forced to reside in

several nursing facilities in the Pasadena area.

Joyce was a life-long Presbyterian and her

church, the San Gabriel Presbyterian Church on

Las Tunas Road, stepped in to help significantly with many

practical issues related to her moves. In

particular Mike Kwok was a close friend and,

along with Judy Moy and Priscilla Hai, worked

hard to ease Joyce's transition from independent

living. In addition to the Church, Joyce's close

friends, Florence Sanchez, Susan Standish and

Lynn Haye provided much needed physical and

financial support. They spent many hours

working with Joyce's cousin, Sharon Ford, to

assist with the details and decisions related to

Joyce's ongoing care and maintenance .

Sharon Ford, Joyce's closest cousin, continued

to be her legal representative and her strongest

advocate. Sharon lovingly stepped in to help

handle Joyce's affairs and spent many years

driving from Orange to Pasadena in order to help

Joyce with her ongoing struggles. She was the

steady hand that Joyce depended on for close

to twenty years; always providing calm

reassurance as Joyce's health continued to

deteriorate.

In late November of 2020 Joyce became ill with

Covid-19 at her skilled nursing home. She was

admitted to the Huntington Memorial Hospital in

Pasadena and, after a brief 2 week stay, passed

away on December 4th - just 3 days after her

77th birthday. Joyce is buried at Fairhaven

Memorial Park & Mortuary in Orange, California.

Joyce's parents and brother, John Dever,

preceded her in death. She is survived by her

cousins, Sharon Ford, Donna Garrett, Frances

Ehle, and Chip Dever. Joyce is also survived by

her loyal and loving friends, many of whom

contributed to this Obituary - Florence Sanchez,

Susan Standish, Lynn Haye, George & Barbara

Taylor/Teague, Mike Trueblood and Richard

Pokress.

Friends who wish to make a donation in

Joyce's memory may make a contribution to a

favorite animal shelter or rescue organization,

recognizing Joyce's lifelong love and concern for

animals.