Joyce Marie Garrett, deeply-loved wife, mom, grandma, daughter, sister, and friend, passed from this life to the next on the evening of December 30, 2020. She died peacefully in the home she designed and oversaw construction of 40 years ago surrounded by her family after a battle with cancer.
Joyce is survived by her husband of 58 years, Gene; her children, Gina and Justin; her daughter-in-law Jennifer; her mother, Helen Dutch; her siblings Brenda Fetty of West Virginia, Monica Staab of Colorado, and Joe Duch of Washington; and her grandsons, Brooks, Clayton, and Hayes.
She was preceded in death by her father James Lail; her step-father Joe Duch; and her grandparents Virgie (“Mammaw”) and Herb McQuinn, with whom she had a special connection.
Joyce was born in Dayton, Ohio, on May 19, 1944, to James Lail and Helen Dutch. She lived in many places as a child, most exotically in Japan. It was there, at the age of 15, that she met a 20-year-old named Harold Eugene Garrett. Gene (Harold) was a private in the US Army, Joyce’s stepdad was a non-commissioned officer in the Air Force. On March 31, 1962, they were married in Dayton, a marriage that held true to its vows and was parted only by death 58 years later.
In between 1962 and 2020 Joyce accomplished many things. She held an Associate’s Degree from a business college, took classes at the University of Missouri, worked full-time helping to put Gene through his bachelors, masters, and doctorate. In the 1980s she started Gift Baskets Unique, a custom gift basket business, out of her basement, which it outgrew but never actually left. Joyce was so successful at it that for the Christmas rush she began hiring 8-12 people. Eventually, in typical fashion, Joyce decided that the business was getting too much in the way of enjoying Christmas with Gene and the kids. She knew that she either had to open a storefront and hire more full-time employees or shut the business down. She shut it down. After that she became a consultant with Mary Kay and provided customers with cosmetic and skincare products for many years, always with her gifted personal touch.
Joyce also enjoyed shopping, particularly with friends and mostly while trying to find the best deal. This illustrates two other attributes. First and most importantly, she was a great friend, as the vast majority of her shopping trips were spent with several special ladies (you know who you are). Joyce was far more interested in the people than the stuff. Second, she was quite the shrewd investor. She didn’t just look for deals at Marshalls but also in the stock market, and greatly enjoyed (and succeeded in) buying and selling stocks.
Joyce and Gene attended E-Free of Columbia (now Compass Church) for many decades and eventually The Crossing and she was involved in countless Bible studies for the last 40 years. She loved Jesus deeply and served Him by serving others.
But in many ways Joyce’s life was focused on her family. She loved being a wife to Gene, a mother to Gina and Justin (and eventually Jen), and eventually a grandma to Brooks, Clayton, and Hayes. Her lasting legacy is her constant helping of others and no one benefited from that more than her family. She is deeply loved, appreciated, remembered, and now missed.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to Athens Church, the church Joyce’s son Justin moved to Kansas City to start in January 2020. Checks can be made out to “Athens Church” and mailed to 7525 N. Granby Ave., Kansas City, MO 64151.
Memorial service was private for only close family, but was broadcast Saturday, January 2 on Facebook Live at the following link for anyone who would like to honor Joyce - https://www.facebook.com/justin.b.garrett.
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