Sheldon L. Joyce

Sheldon L. JoyceOf HonoluluSheldon L. Joyce, 93, died peacefully, Monday, March 20th, 2017, surrounded by his family following a short illness."" He was born on July 25, 1923 in Guelph, Canada to Sperry and Thelma (nee Ingall) Joyce.Sheldon flew for United Airlines as a commercial airline pilot." His passion for flying began when he was a young boy." He would hang out at airports and work odd jobs just to be around airplanes." They affectionately gave him the nickname "Tailspin"." He spent the money he earned to learn to fly. Subsequently, he joined the Royal Canadian Air Force toward the end of World War II." In the war, he flew B-24"s sweeping for mines and bombing German U boats.Sheldon (Shelly) came to the United States when he was offered a job managing a fixed base operation called Minnesota Air Motive." At the insistence of his wife Evelyn he applied for a job flying for United Airlines. (Evelyn and Shelly were secretly married at the time, because Evelyn was a stewardess, and at that time, they were prohibited from marrying.)"" Shelly almost walked out on the STA-9 test because it was not going perfectly but the test supervisor made him finish." He got the job with United and flew for them for the next 37 years and was well respected as one of United's top pilots.Sheldon is survived by his wife of 62 years Evelyn (nee Alfsen); children, Ronald S. (Cindi) Joyce and Peggy Ann(Craig) Janssen; grandchildren, Patrick Kenny, Erin Kenny and Alexandra Joyce; brother, James Joyce and nephew, Blake Joyce.He was preceded in death by his parents; Sperry and Thelma, brothers, Hoffman Joyce and Clayton Joyce; and niece, Donna Marie Eykens.Memorial Visitation will be held Friday, March 31, 2017 from 3:00 pm until 8:00 pm at Glueckert Funeral Home Ltd.,1520 N. Arlington Heights Rd. (4 blocks south of Palatine Road), Arlington Heights, IL" 60004." Interment is private.Funeral Information and condolences may be sent to www.GlueckertFH.com or (847) 253-0168.