Joyce Louise Woods

Life began for Joyce Louise Woods on April 28, 1941 in Lawton, Oklahoma to the parents of Willie and Ora Nash who preceded her in death. Maternal Grandparents, Willie Ann Anderson-Chatman and John Chatman, and Paternal Grandparents, Gustavo W. "Jack" and Esther Stoughtenbought-Nash and step grandmother Florence Arnold have all preceded her in death. On Wednesday morning, December 28th, Joyce slipped away into eternal rest with members of her loving family at her bed side.

Joyce attended schools in Oklahoma City and Dunjee High School in Spencer, Oklahoma. She was active in school plays and club activities. She was a beautiful queen for the third Annual Brother Banquet of the Dunjee American History Club which led to a promising career to replace the baby picture on Wonder Bread. However, she decided to continue her education rather than become a model. She was also Homecoming Queen at Dunjee High School.

Joyce was always devoted to her church and was baptized at the age of 12. She was cherished and pursued by her husband, Raymond Woods, having met while attending her father's church, St. Luke Baptist Church in Spencer, Oklahoma. In marriage the Woods made their home in Milpitas, CA in 1963, and to this union they were blessed with five children.

Although Joyce made a decision to choose education over modeling when she was in high school, she was a student of the Barbizon School of Modeling at their request and graduated on March 11, 1973, as a model for Barbizon.

Joyce was always an entrepreneur and worked in business with her husband Raymond and their children. She owend an antique shop in Campbell, CA and was an expert of and featured African American antiques. She was hired as the cook for a Nursery School in Sunnyvale. She had learned to be an incredible cook, from her mother, Ora, as she grew up. She applied this natural talent to her new job and found that children as well as adults loved her food. It was from that experience that she decided to start her own catering business. With that decision she spent many hours studying the business and perfecting her craft. She was known to serve up delicious and imaginative meals from small gatherings to 1,000 guests with ease and was always in demand. Her Bay Area client base included 100 Black Women, numerous Chambers of Commerce, CAL Waters, prominent lawyers such as Marion Whittker and judges, various medical facilities and many more public and private clients.

Joyce always had a twinkle in her eye and a smile on her face. To know Joyce was to understand that family was first, always. She was generous with her time, her encouragement, and her financial support. For the lucky ones who came into her loving sphere, she made you feel like family even if you actually weren't. She was a special lady with a lot of class.

Left to cherish her memory are her four sons, Larry Sr., Raymond Jr. (Ri), Dwayne, Oran (Evelyn) and daughters Cynthia & Antoinette her brothers and sisters, Robert Nash (Demetrice) of Anadarko, OK; Ruby Long of Las Vegas, NV; W. Faye West of Round Rock, TX; Barbara Fukuda (Wayne) of Tustin, CA; Juainta Owusu (Andrew) of Dover, DE; Donna Bond (Jerome) of Okla. City, OK, Willie Nash Jr. Okla. City, OK and 17 grandchildren; Larry Jr., Angelica Marie, Jean Paul, Antoine "DJ", Sydney, Michael, Whitney, Deztiny, Javon, Faith, Sade, Timothy, Allanah, Mariah, Joy, Greg & Irene and nieces, nephews, an aunt, cousins, and many friends and colleagues.