Joyce Marie Miles

While World War II was raging, she graduated from John Reagan High School in Houston in 1944. She then attended the University of Houston, where she majored in business.

After a decade as a stay-at-home wife and mother, she joined Sonneborn Building Products, where she worked for thirty years. After a brief retirement period, she spent the next sixteen years working for Air Liquide and retired at the age of eighty-four.

When she was twelve years old, her parents became members of the First Baptist Church of Houston. At sixteen, she fully embraced her parents' faith and was baptized. She was involved in the church youth activities where her faith was nurtured. She proudly recounted how she loved the Bible Sword Drills on Sunday nights.

Having found a home at First Baptist Church, she later married Harold Lloyd Miles, a Chief Naval Petty Officer returning from war, in the perfect wedding setting there on September 29, 1951.

Having a home in Spring Branch, the newlyweds became members of the Long Point Baptist Church. They were actively involved in church activities and sought to pass on the faith by teaching four- and five-year-olds on Sunday nights. Little did they realize that they would become parents of two children, Diane and John.

Receiving news on November 27, 1972, that her husband had died of a heart attack, she knew her life was forever changed. Apart from the normal changes that ensue after the death of a spouse, she returned to First Baptist Church Houston with her children.

As was her norm, she quickly became involved in church activities, volunteering as a secretary for the eighth-grade Sunday School class for eighteen years. After joining the Morning Star class in 2000, she served as class secretary until 2020.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Edna and Jake Jousan, and her sisters, Geraldine Corbell and Carolyn Faye Jousan. She is survived by her sister, Barbara Boulton of Maydelle, Texas; her daughter, Diane, and her husband, Mark, of Kingwood, Texas; and her son, John, and his wife, Christina, of Lovelady, Texas, and her grandson, Benjamin Nuar of Kingwood, Texas.

While on earth, her prayer was that no one would leave her funeral not knowing the Lord.

In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to Houston’s First Baptist Church CanHope Ministry.