Joyce Elaine Harper was born July 6, 1936 in Deckerville, Michigan. The eldest of three children, she was the daughter of Myrtle Kerbyson and Noble Clifford Harper and the sister of George and Junior. She grew up on the family dairy farm in the thumb of Michigan not far from Lake Huron. She milked cows, rode horses and made music. She played the trumpet for her high school, and in her lifetime also played the piano, organ, accordion, and – rumor has it – the steel guitar as well. She would play one or another of these instruments all of her life, whether at home, at church or on a hayride.
After graduating high school at the age of 17, Joyce went on to work at the local pickle factory along with many of her friends and neighbors. But soon the adventure of youth took hold, and she drove down to South Florida with some girlfriends and the promise of a job at the renowned Chris-Craft Boats, which was founded in the late 1800s and is still in business today. At this time, she made friends who would last a lifetime; the sister of one of her first roommates, in fact, is a member of this congregation. Linda Giles has been a good friend to Joyce for over 60 years, and the family is so grateful to have had her with us when the arrangements were being made to bring Joyce home to hospice care.
In one way, Joyce was the only one in her family to leave the farm, as her parents and brothers lived or still live there today. In another way, Joyce simply went on to homestead a farm of her own many miles away, building a business with her husband Neal on his family’s land and raising a family who also (mostly) still live where they grew up. Joyce Elaine Harper met Cornelius Romaine Vinkemulder at the Unity Church in Pompano Beach in 1958, where Joyce was the church organist; they married in 1959. Together, they would go on to build a business, raise a family and contribute to their community up until their last days.
While her husband Neal is credited with founding the Wooden Shoe Gardens landscaping company, Joyce was always at his side and a small businesswoman in her own right. Her domain, you could say, was new growth – if you were looking for Joyce, you could find her making cuttings at home, out in the mistbox on the side yard, or tending to established plants at the Flower Farm in what was then unincorporated Broward County. In addition to providing plant material for Wooden Shoe, for several years in the 1980s Joyce also brought blooms and smiles to many elementary schoolchildren in the area; arriving in an old milk delivery truck, she would sell $1 begonia and impatiens for Mother’s Day.
Joyce and Neal had four children together – John (now deceased), Jim, Linda and Carol. They raised them with unconditional love the way it’s meant to be. If you look at an early photo of Joyce, Neal and John you’ll see an idealized picture of the calm before the storm of Civil Rights, the Vietnam War, Feminism, and Gay Rights. She and Neal weathered it all, and all with love. Jack, the biker tattoo artist, Jim the generous son who befriends many of life’s casualties, Harper the student who came out and kept on going, and Carolina the daughter who creates magic of fabric and was always there to style her mom’s hair. Whoever we were, are and will become, we know that we were accepted, loved and supported.
Mom was multi-talented, resourceful, practical and traditional. But if I could describe her in one word, I think it would be resilient. She faced whatever challenge lay ahead of her, and learned whatever she needed to get the job done. She acquired a vast knowledge of plants and how to grow them, mixed chemical fertilizers and hauled a sprayer behind her, and patched the sprinkler system more times than I can remember. After many years growing, watering, weeding, fertilizing, buying, selling and basically spending most of her day outdoors, we finally gave her a job in the air-conditioned office. In her 60s, necessity required that she use a computer to manage the company books. Dick Leitch had died, and we needed a bookkeeper. After an intense weekend starting with “this is a mouse,” she entered the digital age.
With a family business, it’s sometimes hard to separate the family from the business. So, a lot of our time together was spent working. As a child, this could mean an afternoon weeding after school; as a teenager, this could mean a summer in the office typing proposals or on the job site driving a bobcat; and as an adult it would mean everything that was required every day to make South Florida a little more beautiful. In the old days, the office was bustling with family, because almost all of us worked there in some capacity. As the brothers moved on to new opportunities, and the cousins went off in their own directions, the office became something more of a second home to mom and dad, with a kitchen for meals and a combo bedroom/living room in what was once Uncle Gordon’s office. Next thing you know, Amber had a bedroom in the next room over, which some of you might remember as the Quiet Room. I would come to visit and work – mostly tech support. Junior must have thought this was a great idea, so he came to visit and to work, too. It was easier to do that than getting either one of my parents to take any time off! But thanks to Junior and Marianne, they did get away – taking two memorable vacations to Alaska and Hawaii, not to mention many trips back to Michigan.
My mom and dad truly were inseparable, and it wouldn’t have surprised me if she had passed right after dad, as spouses sometimes do. Instead, resilient woman that she was, she kept the business going, supporting Nick as he stepped into his grandfather’s very large shoes. And then when she was almost 80, she opened her heart to love again.
Joyce met Gerald Wallace at the First Baptist Church of Pompano. They both agreed that they preferred the old hymns to the modern Sunday experience, but still they were happy to worship their Lord together. Gerald enjoyed listening to Joyce play the piano in the evenings, on the beautiful upright that he bought for her. For all Gerald gave my mom, it was a real gift to me that they met. I wasn’t there when my parents fell in love, but I was there to see ages melt away from my mom’s face when she looked at Gerald with pure joy. We were at the nursery, because of course we were. Even Gerald learned that spending time with mom sometimes meant spending time at the office. Because she spent so much time at the office, Gerald recently said to me that he wishes she could have had a retirement. I told Gerald that he was my mom’s retirement – sure, Joyce still went to the office, but not every day, and she went home to him every night for dinner and relaxation. Her last years were better than any of us could have hoped for, and her last weeks were spent with Gerald always by her side. Their time together was too short.
I learned a lot from my mom by example, but she also taught me some other things that sent me to therapy. She taught me fear because I was girl, fragility because I had scoliosis, and perfectionism because she always wanted me to learn from my mistakes. But I wouldn’t be who I am today without her. Like a small child who ignores the toy and plays with the box, it can take a while to unwrap the lessons from our parents and recognize the gifts within. Today, I am strong, independent, adventurous, and committed to a path of self-improvement; I am my mother's daughter.
Joyce Elaine Vinkemulder is predeceased by her parents Noble and Myrtle, her brother George, her son Jack, her great-grandson Matt and her husband Neal. She is survived by Junior, Marianne, Matt, Stephanie, Myrna, Mary, Sarah, Jim, Harper, Carolina, Paul, Nick, Tony, Cynthia, Amber, Matt, Taylor and Gerald, Trudy, Phil, Heather and Olivia. She is also survived by Dale, Elaine, Gordon, Ken, Larry, Robin, Penny, Sharon, Lee, Dennis, Keith, Jimmy and I know I’m leaving a lot of people out here. Obituaries always name the immediate family as the ones left behind. But Joyce is survived by everyone here in this room, and everyone who is here in spirit wherever they are on this earth. Thank you.
A memorial service will be held on Friday, February 22, 2019 at 1:00PM at the First Baptist Church, 138 NW 1st St, Pompano Beach. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Church’s homeless mission the Lord’s Gift House.
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