Our beloved Mother and Grandmother Joyce Mertan Arceneaux passed away at Baldwin Park Health Care Center, Orlando, FL on April 18, 2022 at the age of 90. Her warm loving heart and sense of humor will be missed by so many who knew this lovely lady. She was born Joyce Dow in Franklin, NH and grew up in Bristol, NH. She married Joseph Mertan in 1952 and together they raised five children in Ellington, CT. She was a member of Trinity Lutheran Church in Rockville, CT and worked at Rockville General Hospital before she and Joe moved with their four youngest children to Orlando, FL in 1971. Joyce worked for many years at Florida Hospital as a Staffing Coordinator before retiring in 1985. She was a member of St John’s Lutheran Church in Winter Park, FL. In 1983 she was widowed and three years later married Ewell James Arceneaux of Casselberry, FL. She and Jim enjoyed traveling and visited each of the lower 48 states, Mexico and Canada during their five-month annual road trips in the RV they shared for many years before Jim’s death in 1995.
Joyce was a loving and encouraging mother and grandmother. She devoted her life to her family and working hard. Often she would share fond memories about her childhood growing up on Pleasant Valley Farm in Bristol, NH. She was an avid reader and enjoyed spending time with her children and grandchildren both locally and throughout the U.S. She was a proud member of the Molly Stark New Hampshire Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
Joyce is predeceased by her Father Leon Dow and her Mother Hazle Dow Stevenson; her sisters Rachel Carpenter and Frances Hunt, and her half-brother Arthur Dow. She is survived by her daughters and sons-in-law Gail and Stephen Curley of Belleair, FL; Amy and Richard Homan of Safety Harbor, FL; Kathryn and Dennis Dougherty of St Augustine, FL and Cheryl and Patrick McCabe of Winter Park, FL; son and daughter-in-law Joseph and Connie Mertan of South Riding, VA; stepdaughters and their husbands Mary and James Scott of Orlando, FL and Diane and Ken Heath of Savoy, IL, as well as 14 grandchildren, 9 great grandchildren and several nieces and nephews.
A memorial service will be held at Baldwin-Fairchild Funeral Home, 7520 Aloma Ave, Winter Park, FL on Thursday, May 5 @11:30am. Those wishing to honor her life can make a donation in Joyce’s name to the Alzheimer’s Association.
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