Joyce Faye Allen

In the early hours of October 2, 2018 Jesus called Joyce Faye Allen home. She went willingly knowing full well that her reward for a faith filled life would include talks with Jesus (I hope He’s prepared because she loved to talk), a long awaited homecoming with her mother and father Christine and Luther Crabb; brothers, Ralph and Archie Crabb; sister, Betty Ann Crabb; husband, Charles Allen Jr., and all the sweet tea (with lemon) she can drink. Joyce entered this world on May 17, 1930 in Belmont, MS. As the second oldest in a family of 9 she was positioned to begin her life of caring for others, at which she excelled. She is survived by an extraordinary group of siblings that have kept the promise they made to their mother to stay in touch and get together regularly. Bill and Betty Kerwood, Myrna and Ronnie Thompson, Bill and Trish Crabb, Claude & Jane Crabb, Stella Mason and Johnny and Carolyn Crabb will miss her friendship, medical advice, “No Name Pie” and strawberry preserves. Her children, Toni and Greg Yeomans, Charles Allen III and Amy Bleskachek can’t fathom life without her fierce love, her guidance and her ability to make each of them feel that they were her favorite. Nothing pleased her more than being presented with her grandchildren, Jennifer McDonnell, Alexandra Webb, Sydney Allen, Jordan Yeomans and Devin Allen (even if they were all girls) because she could spoil them then send them home. Yet the shining stars that made her smile even as life was drawing to a close were her great grandchildren, Lydia Hoskins and Merritt McDonnell. There is also a passel of nieces, nephews, great nieces, great nephews, cousins and dear friends that would take far to long to list but meant so much to her.

Joyce loved old western movies, her church Calvary Baptist, Wyoming, Bear Bryant (Roll Tide), hamburgers, seafood, Pepper (the dog not the spice), her country, gardening, “How Great Thou Art”, John Wayne, her family and most of all, the Lord.

Joyce graduated from Red Bay High School and attend St. Vincent’s School of Nursing. She entered the Air Force in April 1956 where she served as a flight nurse and received an honorable discharge as a First Lieutenant in March 1958. She went on to a career as an OB/GYN nurse with Tampa OB/GYN that spanned 45 years and a whole lot of babies. Joyce treated all her patients with compassion, dignity and a large dose of sweet southern charm.

In Joyce, God blessed us with an exceptional wife, mother, grandmother, great grandmother, sister, aunt, cousin and friend. We will forever feel her loss, but she prepared us well to carry on and make her proud!

Donations in lieu of flowers may be made to any of the following: The Alzheimer’s Association, The American Cancer Society, Suncoast Hospice or the Wounded Warriors.

Her funeral will be held at Calvary Baptist Church, Clearwater on October 17, 2018 at 10:00 am. Interment at Myrtle Hill Cemetery, Tampa, will immediately follow the service.