Joyce E Brann

Joyce Ernestine Howe was born on October 11, 1930 in Memphis, Tennessee. She was the first born child of Elbert Howe, a baker for Continental Baking Company and Elsie Howe. She grew up in what was the family home at 2609 School Avenue in Midtown. Joyce would have two younger brothers, Robert “Bubba” Howe and Malvin Howe. As a family, they would take many summer vacations to Florida . . . all three squirming around in the hot backseat. A trip that her father said he would never make again . . . until the next summer, of course. She graduated from Memphis Technical High School, where she was an “A” student and a member of the National Honor Society.

After graduation from high school, she would work locally before meeting a young Navy aviation mechanic, Freeman Brann from Coopers Mills, Maine, who was taking machinist training at Millington Naval station near Memphis. The two would date for the better part of a year before setting a date to be married . . . an idea that was not popular with her father. Freeman would quickly convince him this was the right thing to do and on July 27, 1951, they would be wed in a small ceremony in the living room of the Reverend Robert Cannon.

The two would quickly be deployed to Oceana, Virginia, where they would spend the first three years of their married life in a small apartment in Virginia Beach. On July 18, 1952, Joyce would give birth to her first son, Gary Warren Brann, at the Naval hospital in Portsmouth, Virginia.

In 1954, the three would make a welcome move back to Joyce’s hometown of Memphis where they would live in a small house on Eastview. Joyce enjoyed being back around family and friends . . . spending every Thursday with her Mom and often her grandmother . . . going shopping, sharing lunch and generally enjoying each other’s company.

The couple would move to Maxine Street where they would have their second son, Randy Elbert Brann in July of 1959. Joyce would make many lifelong friends on Maxine through morning coffees, school activities and Bunco groups. She enjoyed camping, water skiing and boating with family and friends . . . spending as many weekends as possible at Sardis or Enid Lakes in Mississippi as well as vacationing at Crystal Springs on Lake Ouachita near Hot Springs, Arkansas.

The family would move to Houston, Texas in August of 1968 where Joyce would raise her two boys. She would continue her love for the water by camping at Lake Somerville on weekends. She loved gardening, traveling and spending time around the backyard pool. She enjoyed having everyone over for backyard summer cookouts and for holidays where she would serve her legendary cornbread dressing with Thanksgiving and Christmas turkeys.

Upon moving to Houston, Joyce would become an avid Houston Cougar fan and this would intensify with both of her sons going there. She and Freeman would always have season tickets to football, basketball and baseball games. In fact, tailgating at Cougar football games became a sport of its own and everyone was welcome . . . especially if you were wearing red.

There were many enjoyable travels for Joyce along the way. The most frequent destination was to visit Freeman’s family in Maine but there were also extraordinary weeklong family trips to Florida and Yellowstone National Park. There were, of course, many highly anticipated road trips to Cougar football away games through the years as well.

Joyce would go on to have six grandchildren, which she adored. She would look forward to the times that she could babysit or keep the grandkids during long weekends or parent vacations . . . always spoiling them as much as she could. She would attend as many school activities as possible and could be found sitting in her lawn chair at football, basketball, baseball, softball and soccer games with her large purse . . . full of treats and juice boxes for the after game celebration.

Joyce was a loving, caring friend, daughter, wife, mother, mother in law, and grandmother. She touched many lives that are truly better from having been touched by her. Even at the end of her life, the comments from all of her caregivers were that she was a sweet, kind lady.

She will always be in our hearts and we know that she will always be looking down . . . watching over and protecting us. Your family will always love you!