Joy Lou Reese

Joy Lou Reese, after a long, beautiful life, died peacefully in her sleep on December 5, 2022. Joy spent 28 years of marriage with the late Reverend Donald Eugene Reese and then 40 years with her beloved partner, the late Donna Gibler. 

She was the loving mother of Dona Joy Reese (husband Henry Hexmoor), Paula Faith Reese Kurrus (husband Robert Mason Kurrus), Claudia Hope Reese, John Christian Reese (wife, Carol Bryan Reese), and John Gibler.

She was the dear sister of Nell Florece Keen Rowland (husband Bud Rowland) and the late Rona Lee Keen Busee (husband Burr Busee).

She was the cherished grandmother of Bethany Hope Kurrus Adler (husband Brian Adler), Jesse Daniel Kurrus, Carolyn Joy Reese, James Bryan Reese, Rudy Ashton Widger, and Christopher Hexmoor. And she was the adoring great-grandmother of Ariana Ruth Adler.

The family will be holding a private memorial service, to be announced at a later date.

Joy Lou Reese was born in Oklahoma City, OK on July 19, 1931. During her marriage to Reverend Donald Eugene Reese, she was a resident of Potomac, MD and a devoted teacher for many years, in the Montgomery County Maryland Public School System.

Joy was later a resident of Rehoboth Beach, Delaware where she and her partner Donna Gibler owned and ran a Bed & Breakfast establishment called SAND IN MY SHOES.  For many years SAND IN MY SHOES embraced the LGBTQ community and helped many to feel safe, welcomed, and loved, during a time when this was rare in our society.

While living in Rehoboth Beach, Joy was one of a small group of committed individuals who founded the Unitarian Universalists of Southern Delaware, a community which is still thriving, today.

Throughout Joy’s life she touched many people in such positive, and even life changing ways, through her genuine kindness and gentle strength. She was an amazing individual and will be greatly missed.