Joyce Mozingo Hord

Joyce was born in Smithfield, North Carolina, on September 8, 1949, to Edward Lee Mozingo, a carpenter, and Dessie Ruth Holland Mozingo, a homemaker and nurse.

Joyce graduated from Southern Wayne High School in Dudley, NC, in 1967, where she excelled in math and science and enjoyed helping out in the chemistry lab as a student assistant. She received a full scholarship to attend Eastern Carolina University as a math major. At ECU, she met and married her husband, James Hord. After graduating college, Joyce worked as a math teacher while James attended law school at the University of Tennessee. In 1980, Joyce and James moved to Charlotte, where she began her 28-year career as a computer programmer with Duke Energy.

As a mother, Joyce was warm, loving, and inspiring. She was her children’s greatest cheerleader and encouraged and supported them in their every endeavor. Joyce was an enthusiast of Sudoku and logic puzzles, but she also enjoyed writing poetry, sketching pictures, and reading novels. She never needed a bookmark. Once she started a novel, she would read through to the end, even if it meant staying up all hours. A spontaneous soul, Joyce often suggested spur-of-the-moment trips to Myrtle Beach, the Blue Ridge Mountains, or Paris, France. She donated monthly to the ASPCA and was never without a cherished pet - either a cat or a dog, or both - throughout her life. Her grandson, Gabe, was the apple of her eye. She loved listening to him play saxophone and piano, especially “Ode to Joy,” which he learned for her.

Joyce was preceded in death by her husband, James Clarence Hord (d. April 5, 2021); her son, Michael Wayne Hord (d. October 1, 2002); her brother, Edward Mozingo, Jr.

She is survived by her daughter, Sharon Hord Forret (Jeff); her grandson, Gabe Forret; her twin brother, James Mozingo (Marlene); and sisters, Edith Miers and Katherine Mozingo; as well as many beloved nieces and nephews.

A graveside service will be held at 3:00 p.m. on Monday, March 25, at Sunset Memory Gardens, 8901 Lawyers Road, Mint Hill, NC. A reception to celebrate Joyce’s life will follow.

The family requests that those who wish to express sympathy consider donating in Joyce’s honor to the ASPCA.