Joyce Dorsett

Joyce Elaine Dorsett, 74, Naperville, Illinois, passed away peacefully in her home on September 22, 2019. Mrs. Dorsett won her battle with cancer when she crossed the portals of heaven and laid all her burdens at the feet of her Savior, Jesus Christ. A Celebration of Life will be held at 10 AM on Thursday September 26, at Blake – Lamb Funeral Home 5015 Lincoln Ave., Lisle. Visitation will be on Wednesday from 5 PM to 8 PM.

Mrs. Dorsett was born in Fresno, California, on April 16, 1945 to Roy Lee Whetsel and Vera Lorraine (Holley) Whetsel. She grew up in Abilene Texas, the daughter of a pastor. She graduated from Cooper High School in 1963 and married Rev. Wayne Arnold Dorsett on February 1, 1964. They met on a blind date and married 6 months later. She always said he looked like Elvis and he always said she looked like Marilyn Monroe.

Mrs. Dorsett supported her husband in his ministry throughout her life, teaching Sunday School, playing the piano for worship services, singing in the choir or singing solos, assisting with the church budget, encouraging ladies in need of spiritual care, and assisting with more church dinners and events than could ever be counted. She and her husband served in lay leadership roles at churches in Illinois before moving to Virginia where they served as Pastor and wife at two churches. Later they moved to Vermont, serving the East Peacham Baptist Church and then the Faith Community Church. The focus of her life has always been loving her family and sharing the love of Christ with all those around her. Joyce had a listening ear and a praying spirit. As her final days approached, she said, “I’m kind of excited about heaven.” A fitting epitaph to a life well lived for Christ.

She is survived by her children, Denise Ann (Dorsett) Kissee (Rodney) Naperville, Illinois, Terry Wayne Dorsett (Kay), North Grafton, Massachusetts, Wilfred Bryan Dorsett (Melissa), Lynchburg, Virginia, and Marion Lee Dorsett (Arika) Lynchburg, Virginia. She is also survived by her brother Daniel Laveryl Whetsel, Abilene, Texas, and her Aunt Jo Stewart, Bethany, Oklahoma. She was Gigi and Mamaw to 11 grandchildren and 5 great grandchildren and Aunt J to lots of nieces and nephews. She is also survived by her best friend and sister, Barbara Evonne Reeves, Munich, North Dakota, and several kids that she considered her “adoptive children” over the years, Rick Birkey, Ludlow, Illinois, Brenda (Birkey) Dunn, West Palm Beach, Florida, and Conrad DeJardins, Newington, Connecticut.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Roy Lee Whetsel and Vera Loraine (Holley) Whetsel, a brother Terry Shannon Whetsel, her in-laws, Marion Arnold Dorsett and Lora May (Barr) Dorsett and a brother-in-law, Dale Dorsett, and three sister-in-law’s, Linda Dorsett, Sharon Kay Dorsett and Carol Whetsel. Joyce took comfort in knowing she would see all of her loved ones again in heaven, including four grandchildren that went to heaven prior to birth.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her memory to the Sponsor an Hour Fund of the Baptist Foundation of New England, 87 Lincoln Street, Northborough MA 01532 to assist the small churches in New England that she loved so much.