Joy Lee Ericksen

The Visitation and the Celebration of Life Service will be on Friday, June 26, 2026, at 10:00 am and 11:00 am respectively. Both will be held at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, 4000 Midway Road, Carrollton, TX 75007, with a reception immediately following in the adjacent Fellowship Center. A graveside service will be held at 2:00 pm at Hilltop Memorial Park Cemetery, 1810 N Perry Road, Carrollton, TX 75006.

If you would like to listen to Joy's Faith Story that was recorded on January 25, 2023, please visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0irTNeK_oSk.

In lieu of flowers, please make donations to Prince of Peace Lutheran Church. If you would rather give by check, please make it payable to "Prince of Peace" with a memo designation of "Joy Ericksen".

Please keep Joy's children, Scott and Jeff, and their families in your prayers.

We look forward to our reunion with Joy in heaven!

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Joy Lee (nee Petersen) Ericksen was born in Greeley, CO on March 20, 1934, to Clarence Dodder and Elberta (nee Waggoner) Dodder. After Elberta's divorce, when Joy was 3, she and her mother moved to Sidney, MT where her mother met and married Otis Petersen, who later adopted Joy. They lived in Sidney until she graduated high school as Valedictorian in 1952. From there she went to St. Patrick's School of Nursing in Missoula, MT.

In the close-knit community of Sidney, Joy and Wayne never had a formal first meeting, they had simply "always known each other". With family connections and shared friends, their story began long before they started dating.

They started dating in 1950 and became engaged before she started nursing school. They married on August 21, 1955 in Sidney, and honeymooned in Banff, Canada. On their way home, they bought a house trailer in Kalispell, MT, starting their married life in Browning, MT.

A month later, they moved from Browning, MT to Falfurrias, TX. This was the first of 24 moves before they settled in Carrollton, TX in 1963. These moves were done in seven years and covered eight different states, including Montana, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, New York, Maryland, Arkansas, Mississippi, and several places in Texas. It was Wayne's oil-related career, at Geophysical Service Inc. (GSI), that required them to move to where the seismograph work was needed.

In Hattiesburg, MS, in 1959, their first child, Jeff, was born. Twenty-three months later, in 1961, their second child, Scott was born in Sulphur Springs, TX. In 1962, they moved to Dallas and became members of Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Dallas, TX.

In 1965, a group of Holy Cross Members, who lived in Carrollton, wanted to start a new Lutheran church "up north" in Carrollton, and Prince of Peace Lutheran Church (POPLC) was born. The first service was held in November of 1966. Wayne, Joy, and family were Charter Members.

Joy served in many roles during her 60+ years at POPLC and multiple times in some capacities. She was the first president of POP's Lutheran Women's Missionary League, a Church Council Member, a Sunday school teacher, and a Youth Group Leader. She led the Ericksen CareCiple Group and was part of Prince of Peace's Altar Guild from the very beginning, serving as late as the fall of 2025 at age 91! She also served on all Pastoral Call Committees throughout Prince of Peace's history except the last one, in 2025.

About 1972, Joy began her career at St. Paul Hospital, working as an Operating Room Nurse. She became Head Nurse of open-heart surgery, prior to becoming the Director of Surgery. After retirement in 1999, Joy enjoyed her life in Carrollton while traveling with Wayne around the country and the world. Her utmost enjoyment, though, came from spending time with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Joy was preceded in death by her beloved husband of 65 years, Wayne Ericksen. She is survived by sons Jeff (Rhonda) Ericksen, Scott (Sandy) Ericksen; grandchildren Ryan Ericksen, Holly Ericksen, Caleb (Jessica) Ericksen, Eli (Kaely) Ericksen, and Maggie (Austin) Jacobson; great-grandchildren, Charlotte Russell, Giada & Grant Ericksen, Kennedy & Rowan Ericksen, and bonus great-granddaughter Keira Fraser and lots of extended family.