Joyce walked safely to the arms of her God in the Morning of December 18, 2018. Her strength that she had was gone, she was ready to have peace and her loved ones who were her strength could no longer hold her here.
We have peace that our Mom is free from all that was keeping her from loving the life that she lived with our Dad. They truly were two peas in a pod. He is the Rock, She was the Star.
She graduated from Skowhegan Area High School in 1955 and married her Husband, Richard, on September 15th, 1956. They enjoyed 62 years together, raising children and having fun with their grandchildren. She was an amazing cook, artist, and seamstress. Together with her husband, they spent lots of time at their home on Lake Wesserunsett, sitting in the driveway with their family and cruising around the lake on their pontoon boat. They wintered in Florida for 20+ years making many new friends, enjoying lots of sunshine and plenty of golf.
Joyce was predeceased in death by her parents Harmon and Lena James, and her brothers David, Robert, and Richard James and sister Barbara.
She is survived by her Husband Richard of 62 years, their four children; son Tom and wife Peggy, son Bob and wife Leslie, daughter Valerie and husband Paul, son Rick and wife Jenn; Grandchildren Ryan York and Fiancé Jenny Morgenweck, Russell York and Nicole Rines, T.J. York, Carrie Lacroix and Husband Doug Lacroix, Rebecca Gilbert and Husband Garett Gilbert, Derek McCarty, Elizabeth York, Braden McCarty, Chase McKenney, Eli York, Allison Wolfe, and Rachel Sutton. Great-grandchildren; Charles, Evvy and Lucia Lacroix, Jaxon York, and Ainslie Cayford. She is also survived by cousins Jon and Lisa Reynolds, sister-in-law Mary Huff and Husband Fred, and many nieces and nephews.
Thank you to the Norridgewock Health Center, Doctor Kathleen Lees and staff for all their amazing care.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Saturday December 22, 2018 at 10:00 a.m. at the Notre de Lourdes Catholic Church, Water St., Skowhegan, Maine. A gathering of family and friends will immediately follow the service at the Skowhegan/Madison Elks Lodge, Silver St., Skowhegan, Maine.
Arrangements are entrusted to the care of Smart & Edwards Funeral Home, 183 Madison Ave., Skowhegan, Maine.
In lieu of flowers, please donate to the St. Anthony’s Soup Kitchen, Please make checks payable to Christ the King Parish, PO Box 369, Skowhegan, Maine 04976.
