Joyce was the youngest child of William Walter and Rena Ellen Briggs, née Raymond. She and her family moved to West Lafayette, IN, when she was 8 years old. She graduated from Jefferson High School in West Lafayette in 1955 and then from Purdue University in 1959 with a Bachelor degree in Elementary Education and a minor in Mathematics.
While at Purdue she met her husband, Richard “Dick” Spilo. They were married on May 30, 1959. They spent the first three years of their married life in the US Army during which time Joyce gave birth to her two daughters. Joyce and Dick then moved back to West Lafayette where their son was born.
Joyce, Dick, and their three children moved from Indiana to New York back to Indiana again and then to Iowa before settling in Texas in 1976. Once in Texas, they fell in love with the hill country area and decided to stay.
Joyce taught school for a short time before concentrating on raising her three children. When her children were in Middle School, Joyce went back to college to study Computer Programming and then on to work full-time for Computer Application Systems and later for the IRS writing support software.
Joyce loved being a wife and mother. She enjoyed playing family card games, building puzzles and taking long family road trips to visit National Parks and cities throughout the continental US and Canada. Once the kids were grown, Joyce and Dick continued in their enjoyment travel with trips all over the world. They also liked house designing and used their designs to build two of their family homes. Joyce and Dick were avid bridge players and joined bridge groups wherever they lived. They especially relished the bridge group they helped start at Triumphant Love Lutheran Church.
Joyce was a charter member of Triumphant Love Lutheran Church where she served in many capacities over the last 36 years. She was also a member of the Chapter GT of P.E.O. which provides support to women going back to college.
Joyce is survived by her daughter Linda Tarby and husband John, her daughter Sonia Chase and husband Joseph, and daughter-in-law Hilary Spilo. She had the joy of watching her grandchildren, Rebecca Chase, Eric Chase Walter Spilo and Chandler Spilo, grow up. She is also survived by her sister, Joanne Nipple and husband Ron as well her brother, Jack Briggs and wife Yoon Sun. Joyce was preceded in death by her parents, her husband of 52 years, Dick, and son, David Spilo. She was a beloved daughter, sister, cousin, mother, aunt, grandmother, wife and friend. We were blessed by her love and thank God for her life. We look forward to sharing in the Lord’s Resurrection with her.
Friends are cordially invited to a visitation with the family from six o’clock until eight o’clock in the evening, on Sunday, the 27th of October 2013, at Cook-Walden Funeral Home, 6100 North Lamar Boulevard, Austin, Texas.
Memorial Services will be conducted at three o’clock in the afternoon on Monday, the 28th of October 2013, at Triumphant Love Lutheran Church, 9508 Great Hills Trail, Austin, Texas 78759.
Donations can be made in lieu of flowers to the Endowment Fund at Triumphant Love Lutheran church (http://tllc.org/tllc-endowment) or “The P.E.O. Program for Continuing Education” (checks should be written to "P.E.O.- Chapter GT" and sent to Beverly Reid; 201 Bella Cima Drive; Austin, TX 78734).
To share condolences with Spilo family please visit our website at www.cookwaldenfuneralhome.com.
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