If at some point during the 50+ span of years from 1968 to 2019 in Ames, Iowa, you happened to chat with a woman whose chestnut (later, gray) hair was done up in a bun, likely under a red kerchief, and who sported an infectious smile and laugh punctuated by a bit of bright lipstick and bespectacled sparkly blue eyes, this was likely the irreplaceable Joyce Rock Cummings '50. On May 3rd of this year, while undergoing a procedure to address a hip fracture that resulted from a fall at a nearby nursing home, her heart inexplicably stopped beating--a crushing blow to all who loved her.
Though ostensibly an extremely outgoing individual, Joyce also could be an intensely private person--someone who took pains *not* to be recognized, even relishing in self-deprecating remarks, much to the dismay of those who knew her well. Particularly because her daughter is the last of the family line who is in a position to give a (largely) first-hand account of Joyce's story and the meaningful contributions she made to her corner of the world--and also because it was Joyce's wish to have neither a public memorial service nor a public burial ceremony--a very detailed life history follows to properly honor her:
Born in Manhattan, New York, on March 1, 1933, to Roland Francis Rock, a Wall Street stocks analyst, and Leona Elizabeth Newlander Rock, a retired model and Broadway showgirl, Joyce Katharine Rock grew up to be a down-to-earth, outspoken, and witty intellect, educator, mentor, and advocate for social justice who was as dear a member of her small far-flung family as she was to the large Ames area community.
She moved to Wilmington, Delaware, with her parents at a young age; there, at 604 West 19th Street, one of her earliest memories was helping plant and maintain the family's Victory Garden during WWII. Joyce began a life-long love of learning at No. 24 Elementary School, proceeded to Warner Junior High, and then attended preparatory school at Wilmington Friends. At the Quaker school, she served as "live-wire" chair of the Assembly Committee as well as chair of the Properties Committee for school play productions; played the drums in orchestra; participated in a variety of sports, field hockey her favorite; and performed in a number of school plays, including as lead in Edna St. Vincent Millay's satire, Aria de Capo. During her youth, she looked forward to the family tradition of vacationing at Rehoboth Beach, as well as attending football games with her parents. For at least one summer, she served as a camp counselor in Maine.
After graduating from high school, Joyce became a Wellesley Girl. There, she double majored in French and English and developed post-secondary interests in the fields of zoology and linguistics. She joined Zeta Alpha, an organization of juniors and seniors interested in modern drama. And, as faculty-selected student representative of Wellesley College, Joyce was one of 23 undergraduates representing 18 eastern colleges participating in a workshop on nursing in New York City to become aware of the vast number of career opportunities available within this healthcare profession. After earning her bachelor's degree, Joyce went on to work for several years in Boston at the lab of Dr. William Dameshek, distinguished clinical hematologist and founder of Blood, the clinical journal of the study of blood and blood disorders. Later, at the University of Pennsylvania, Joyce studied linguistics--particularly enjoying Old Icelandic--graduating with a Master of Arts & Sciences degree. She stayed on at Penn to pursue her doctorate, and, while taking a class in Old English, met Columbia grad, fellow doctoral student, and up-and-coming Conrad scholar, David Earl Cummings.
A few years later, they were engaged, each teaching English at the University of Nebraska, where David had followed his major professor and where Joyce worked on her doctorate at Penn in absentia. They opened their apartment-home to two feline littermates who became two dear, long-lived companions, Chow and Lionel. On November 22, 1965, Joyce and Dave were married at a chapel in Lincoln, her parents and their close friends in attendance. Then, in 1968, in a flurry of dissertation papers David was polishing and Joyce, loyally typing up for him on their Royal, David accepted a tenure-track faculty appointment with the Department of English at Iowa State University, where combined, the couple went on to teach composition, English for speakers of other languages (ESOL), linguistics, literature, and creative writing--with David also serving as editor of the "workshop-in-print" academic quarterly, Poet & Critic.
Joyce and Dave made their new home in a cherished, don't-make-'em-like-they-used-to 1940s white Cape Cod at 1212 South Third Street in Ames, Iowa, often riding their (terribly heavy!) Schwinn bicycles or driving one of their VW bugs to Ross Hall to teach and hold office hours, exercise at the State Gym, or play tennis at nearby Brookside Park. On February 1, 1971, they welcomed the birth of Elizabeth Anne, their only child. Within that first year and a half of her life, Elizabeth's English prof parents had a field day witnessing her first (and second and third and...) words and expressions emerge, Joyce recording many of them in a very funny homemade dictionary whose entries included, "'AT!": an exclamation made exclusively at Safeway, accompanied by finger pointing (much to the alarm of her mother), upon recognizing that a man was bald--and apparently needing a hat.
At the end of every academic year, both before and after their daughter was born, Joyce and Dave made the trek out East--in their white 1966 Dodge Coronet station wagon--to spend the summer visiting both sides of the family: Joyce's, in New York and later, Connecticut, and David's, in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Many wonderful memories were made at a cottage situated up the hill from the largest natural lake in Pennsylvania, Harveys Lake (no apostrophe). The property had been in Dave's family since 1926, when his father David S. Cummings purchased it as a summer getaway at a time when Harveys Lake was a major destination spot. The humble abode--complete with an outhouse--was passed along to David and Joyce as a wedding gift by his mother Helen Elizabeth Jones Cummings. There, on nearly an acre of land, they would live as a family with David's son Edward for several weeks of the summer. On cold mornings, they kept warm with a wood-burning stove, made blueberry pancakes, and enjoyed conversation and the mountain air while swinging on the face-to-face swing. Family dinners on the back fully windowed porch, looking out on the woods, were regularly adorned by a vase full of hydrangeas, tiger lilies, and phlox that grew on the property.
Joyce and Elizabeth made a routine of picking wild blueberries on the walk down Ridge Avenue and then down the hill of Carpenter Road, where they visited Dave's mother, and sister Helen and brother-in-law Lee, on the porches of their respective cottages; going for a swim at Sunset Beach; nibbling on picnic sandwiches or eating a slice at Joe's Grotto; and picking up the mail from Eleanor at the Shawanese Post Office and a few groceries from Puterbaugh’s before heading back up the hill to the cottage. Visits from Dave's nephew Doug Fawbush, his wife Janis, and their kids, who lived in town in Wilkes-Barre, were also a treat--as were visits in town at Doug and Janis's home and the year-round homes of Dave's mother and Helen and Lee. The whole family enjoyed special nights of fun at the Lake Picnic Grounds, home to Hanson's Amusement Park, where Joyce would join in for bumper-car rides and skee-ball--but not the rickety wooden roller coaster, thank you. Joyce hosted her father as well as several of her friends at the cottage over the years (eventually winterizing the home so her father could live there year round).
Joyce and David were nutrition devotees, baking whole-wheat bread and making a point to eat wholesome foods as meals and snacks at a time and place such an approach to diet was not the popular notion it is today. An array of not-your-average cookbooks were part and parcel of a vast collection of not-your-average books that lined the walls of many a room in their Ames home. Elizabeth vividly recalls exchanges of whole grains at their home among friends from the international (namely, African) communities Joyce came to know at the University. Pooling money with others at Iowa State to help bring about the Mutual Aid Food Association (MAFA--now known as Wheatsfield Grocery) in 1974, Joyce and Dave became the nonprofit's 22nd members of what has grown to be a co-op membership of close to 6,800, as of this writing.
As an only child whose mother had unexpectedly died months after the move to Ames--and whose other family lived far away--Joyce regularly expressed gratitude for the wonderful, supportive neighbors she came to know as friends and child-rearing experts, among them: the late Carolyn Affleck, the late Shirley Reece, Fran Berger, the late JoAnn Brown, Ruth Fitzgerald, Annette Forbes, and Cheri Hausner. With neighbors' help, Joyce was instrumental in having the City put in the stop sign still located at the corner of South Third Street and South Hazel Avenue, after neighbor girls were hit and injured by a driver. She also joined forces with fellow concerned parents from the area to address the rash decision to shut down neighborhood school Whittier Elementary--where Elizabeth and many of her playmates had only just begun kindergarten--writing letters to the editor and speaking up at school board meetings covered by the local press. (Later, after Whittier's doors sadly closed and Elizabeth and her classmates were bussed up north to Meeker Elementary, Joyce served for a time as president of the building's new occupant, the People Place, a grassroots organization offering educational and support services to the public.) Joyce partnered with Cheri to help care for retired railroad worker Merle Brown, who was "up in years" and lived on the same block. (She came to learn through the course of conversation that the gentleman had dated Boone native Mamie Doud--later, Eisenhower!) Additionally, Joyce checked in on three other elder neighbors who were widowed, always taking the time to converse with the women at length. Joyce was glad to have both neighbor families, single neighbors, and friends over for occasional dinner gatherings and picnic spreads on the patio--and was touched when her own family was invited to others' homes for a meal and evening of good company.
A dedicated parent, Joyce hosted countless imaginative play times for Elizabeth and friends, including placing 1970s orange sofa cushions on the floor so they could bounce-dance to the sounds of the Latin and jazz collection, Mamba for Cats; filling a built-in drawer with wild dress clothes gleaned from garage sales; putting out jars of glitter and finger paint; turning on the sprinkler for a run-through thrill; and not minding at all when Elizabeth decided to begin drawing on her bedroom walls and on the backside of Joyce's home office door. When Elizabeth was a wee one, Joyce took her to O'Neil Park, just down South Third, almost daily, and as her daughter grew older, took Elizabeth and her friends to more expansive parks like Brookside, Inis Grove, Izaak Walton, and Hickory Grove Park.
Joyce signed up Elizabeth for pre-school at the much-loved "Mrs. Judy's" (Judy Henry, of Berry Patch Farm fame), a mesmerizing-to-kids old Victorian home near the corner of 13th and Grand, where making art, taking time to play dress-up and express make-believe, exploring the outdoors, and learning about and tasting fruit were a focus. As Elizabeth grew older, Joyce also promoted learning outside of the classroom with regular trips to the Ames Public Library, the Des Moines Science Center, and the Des Moines Art Center. She modelled the importance of carving out time for health and leisure by exercising to colorful Jack LaLanne vinyl records, learning yoga from PBS's "Lilias, Yoga, & You", walking daily, bicycling, sketching, reading regularly, and watching very little TV. She encouraged enjoyment of a variety of activities by enrolling Elizabeth in art classes at the Octagon; swimming, baton twirling, and tennis through Ames Parks & Rec.; as well as before-school French lessons. Birthdays and holiday times were always made special with a nice, homemade dinner, thoughtful gifts, and Joyce's hand-drawn decorations.
In 1981, Joyce lost the love of her life to advanced colon cancer (Don't put off screening; start at 45!
https://www.cdc.gov/cancer/colorectal/basic_info/screening/index.htm). After Dave received an incorrect diagnosis locally, he and Joyce went to stay in Iowa City for a period of time for a proper one, while their next-door neighbors the Forbes graciously looked after Elizabeth. Though Dave had been given a prognosis of 3 years, he lived less than 3 months; the cancer had progressed to such an extent his doctors thought he may have had it for the past decade (the entirety of Elizabeth's life). During and after Dave's battle with the disease, Joyce's father, close neighbors, and family friends--notably, Annette Forbes (and family), Joann and Kari Baker, and Lee Bergren--provided care and support in a manner and to a degree Elizabeth will never, ever forget.
Joyce went on to raise Elizabeth on her own, continuing to set an example by showing compassion toward all walks of life; speaking up to call out injustice and offer solutions; fostering creativity; keeping exposure to commercialism and consumerism to a bare minimum; and soldiering on. She continued to make the 1,000+ mile drive out to the Lake (now as sole driver, before the era of cell phones) each summer with Elizabeth, often wowing good-old-boy types in roadside garages along the way with pointed questions that revealed her intricate knowledge of how cars operate. (Many years later, while helping her daughter secure her first vehicle--a Jeep, in preparation for the need of a 4x4 in rural Colorado, the location of Elizabeth's first teaching assignment--Joyce diligently paid a visit to the Ames Public Library, where she consulted the Blue Book of that used make and model. The next evening, in the course of negotiating on the front porch of the owner--a well-to-do country gentleman who had quite the spread outside of Ames--it was clear to Elizabeth from the man's eventual expression and period of silence that Joyce had made an offer that was fair yet shocked and frustrated him (and made Elizabeth proud to be Joyce's daughter). Elizabeth vividly remembers her mother's progressive, fact-based mindset: In the days before the internet, she was always pulling down a volume or two of the Encyclopedia Britannica to answer questions and make sure she knew "what-was-what", if not further exploring resources at Parks Library at Iowa State.
During this time period--in the 70s and 80s--Joyce rhetorically asked of the male-dominated (if not solely male) news-commentary panels she would view on television, "Where are the women?" In the 90s, Elizabeth remembers her mother's dedication to the concerns of Black students on campus, including showing up to support and sustain the work of University colleagues, then-Minority Liaison Melissa DeRadcliffe and scholar Dr. J. Herman Blake. Joyce regularly pointed out the problematic use of the term "minority" by a white majority. As a long-time member of the Collegiate United Methodist Church, she advocated for full inclusivity of individuals identifying with the LGBTQI community who sought to serve in leadership roles. She was also an ardent supporter of universal accessibility, serving on a University committee to address such needs and looking to the expert guidance in this realm from students, staff, and faculty with disabilities, as well as colleague and architecture professor Dr. Arvid Osterberg, who oversaw such initiatives both on campus and in the community, at large.
In the 90s and 2000s, Joyce noted with increasing alarm the degree to which TV drama storylines seemed to be solely focused on the sexual and other violent assault and killing of women--without seeming to address the issue in an educational or solution based manner. She said she knew screenwriters could do better. Joyce was also troubled by what she called "non-stories" covered in the news--ones that did not cover basic questions viewers were sure to have. For this reason, she was delighted when Rekha Basu and the late Rob Borsellino joined the Des Moines Register, immediately becoming an avid reader of their respective substantive columns. When Elizabeth moved to Iowa City, Joyce would follow goings-on there in part by reading Sullivan's Salvos, the weekly newsletter of community figure Rod Sullivan, whose candor she immensely appreciated.
After spending an introspective period during the early 80s grieving the death of her husband and doing volunteer work, Joyce decided to switch careers. She continued to support undergraduates but in a different setting. She began her role as an academic advisor to those studying in the colleges of Liberal Arts & Sciences and Pre-Business at Iowa State, enjoying the opportunity for more one-on-one work with students. She also continued teaching English (namely, ESOL and composition)--only this time, on the Ankeny and Ames satellite campuses of Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC). She came to realize that many students coming to the University (particularly from small towns) were overwhelmed by its sheer size (namely, class sizes), not to mention expense--and felt community college for many was a much more sensible and sustainable start to a college experience (if not a complete one, in and of itself). As a DMACC instructor, one of her initiatives was including in the curriculum a book on the AIDS crisis, not only to ensure students understood how to protect themselves but also to help eradicate ignorance that could lead to hate speech and other violence. She was deeply invested in her students' and advisees' happiness, in addition to their academic and career success. It seemed that no matter where she ran an errand when Elizabeth happened to be along with her--the bank lobby, the grocery store, the library--Joyce would run into a current or former student or advisee and enjoy making introductions, followed by a pleasant time catching up.
By the late 80s, Joyce and Elizabeth bid a teary farewell to the two family cats. Because Lionel and Chow had been very near and dear to their hearts, the mother and daughter took under their wings a sickly cat, Beany--one they brought home with them on a harrowing return trip from Pennsylvania. He went on to become a favorite for many years, a companion to Joyce into retirement.
In the spring of 1990, Joyce's father and uncle were in a serious car accident out East, while tending to the burial of her aunt (the brothers' sister). This prompted Joyce to help her father move in with her. While Roland was largely independent for several years, Joyce ensured he had opportunities to stay active in his areas of interest, ate wholesome meals, received holistic health care, and remained safe, with Elizabeth providing help, as well. The three generations enjoyed many family meals and holidays together, often with Elizabeth's then-boyfriend, sharing family news, stories, and wisdom. In 1993, Joyce, Roland, and Elizabeth travelled to visit ancestral burial sites while scouting out graduate schools for Elizabeth. In 1998, Roland and Elizabeth were proud to attend an event on campus where Joyce was recognized with an award for her work in academic advising. This honor was in part due to her innovative spin on what were conventionally rather dull classes offered to advisees (e.g., degree audit prep): She made a point to include dynamic guest speakers and facilitate lively discussions of assorted topics related not only to career pursuits but also general well-being of students. Over the years, Joyce, her father, and her daughter also enjoyed going on long walks together, as well as attending faculty recitals given at the University's School of Music. Joyce and Elizabeth continued to look out for Roland once he moved into assisted living a decade after he had arrived in Ames and until his heart-breaking passing in 2004, when he was just a few months' shy of his 100th birthday.
Joyce was keenly interested in the creative and advocacy pursuits of Elizabeth and Elizabeth's boyfriend-turned-husband Tom Glorfield. She was always there with a show of support, from sitting in the audience at Elizabeth's poetry open-mic events at the M-Shop and helping distribute copies of the issue of Sketch--ISU's student creative writing and fine arts publication--that Elizabeth had co-edited, to attending Tom's art showings at the Knoll and the Design Center and one of his band's open-air performances on campus. Then, after Elizabeth graduated, Joyce thoroughly read up on, signed petitions for, donated to, studied her daughter's freelance write-ups and Elizabeth-designed-and-Tom-produced outreach materials, and listened to IPR broadcasts of initiatives Elizabeth worked on, including SEIU's campaign to expand and improve healthcare to Iowans (pre-ACA); Farm Sanctuary's work to extend protections to farmed animals; and the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine's efforts to overhaul the National School Lunch Program. Soon after September 11th, Elizabeth remembers having a heart-to-heart with her mom over the phone, in which Joyce noted that it was times like this--when one felt the dread of not knowing how to help--that making a donation to good works was particularly important.
While she continued teaching at DMACC into 2004, Joyce retired from her academic advising role at Iowa State in early 2002. The occasion was marked by a celebration in Carver Hall, attended by family and a steady stream of colleagues, friends, students, and advisees. To boot, a few months earlier, Joyce received the generous surprise gift of a Volvo from her stepson Edward, who wanted to recognize her career achievements as well as the important role she had played in his life--and, most importantly, keep her safe. In retirement, Joyce enjoyed participating in continuing education classes through Penn--notably reading the works of Proust--and also offerings from Iowa State's Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI). She continued to be involved in her neighborhood association as well as serve on the board of a committee that oversees the just operation of independent living facilities in the Ames area.
That same year, Joyce joined members of her, Dave's, and Tom's family at a very memorable summertime sunset ceremony amidst flowering prairie at Kent Park in Oxford, Iowa, to attend Elizabeth and Tom's wedding. The night before, a lovely meal was shared with family in Iowa City at the couple's favorite restaurant, the Red Avocado. Immediately following the wedding, the bride and groom hosted at their home an evening reception with beautiful cakes made by the chefs of the same restaurant and the local co-op. The following morning, the newlyweds also had family over for a light brunch, opening of gifts, and a time for farewells. Though Tom and Elizabeth were exhausted from all the preparations they had put into their DIY big day, Joyce insisted they mark the occasion with at least a brief honeymoon in Chicago, on her tab (which they did!). Later that summer, Joyce attended another wedding reception in Sioux City, hosted by the Glorfields, where she was graciously put up in a bed and breakfast by them.
For years and years, both before and after the wedding, Elizabeth and Tom visited Joyce and Roland (and later, after Roland's passing, just Joyce) regularly in Ames. Joyce also made the occasional trip to Iowa City. No matter the location, it was always both a practical time that included helping Joyce with various projects, as well as a special time, enjoying a meal together, many laughs, and long, spirited conversations about everything under the sun into the night.
In 2019, long-overdue health concerns necessitated that Joyce move into an assisted living facility north of Ames, a most challenging transition that involved parting with her home and leaving behind her neighborhood and community of over 50 years. On top of everything else, she needed to adhere to a regimen of rigorous physical rehabilitation, as she was unable to walk without a walker and the support of nurses. Within months, the pandemic had begun. Though there were many struggles, once Joyce resettled into this new life, she enjoyed corresponding and visits in the courtyard with friends and family; looked forward to singing at religious services; continued to keep her finger on the pulse of all things political (including at the nursing home!)--continuing her study from the papers and TV news of how issues came about, how they intersected, and what solutions to problems could be offered; read books provided by the local library and Spanish primers (so she could attempt to converse with those nursing-home employees who were Spanish speakers) and the Bible Atlas; dared to stay up late to watch old movies; adored visits from resident cat Ella; and never missed an opportunity to chat with staff.
Elizabeth is grateful for the compassionate, dedicated support of numerous nurses who, through many ups and downs (not the least of which involved protecting the lives of nursing home residents before the Covid vaccine was available), tended to her mother's care in this facility--and for her husband's unwavering support in innumerable matters, particularly in the last six years of Joyce's life, when relations between mother and daughter became strained (but gratefully also rebounded in 2021). She also wants to recognize the many cat sitters over the years that enabled Tom and Elizabeth to visit with and tend to the needs of her mother overnight: Amy Blessing, Renee Ross, Nicole Boucher, "the Rachaels", Kelli and Joel, Melanie Long, and Maria Bascom.
Elizabeth would also like to express her deep gratitude to those precious few she, herself, could confide in and receive emotional support and guidance from during the most difficult of times: Doug and Janis Fawbush, Jan Dale, Katie Doyle Errthum, Lindsey Andrew, Patte Henderson, David Johnson, Susan Fisher, Michelle (Davis) Jones, Amy Hintz, Alisa Meggitt, Irene Friend, Katie Foreman, Sondy Kaska, Carolyn Zaiser, Sara Howard, Amy Hackman, Hanadi Elshazali, Sharmi Kaefring-Oyarzun, Bijou Maliabo, Mahdi Obeid, Bill Riker, Jonathan and Susie Poulton, Ana Moreno, Ramatoulaye Diallo, Sungmin Yun, Viviane Amessi, Junior Mokeli, Brian Duhn, Yilmer Cabrera, Junior Kabuana, Emery Bakwanzila, Sergio Cambili, and Ayman Sharif.
Joyce's love of choral, classical, and jazz music, as well as of all forms of visual and written art; her existence as a closet sketch-artist; her desire to get things "just so" in teaching, writing, editing, and gift-giving; her fascination with listening to and learning others' life stories; her dedication to making things plain, asking the right questions, and her knack for outreach and collaboration to help bring about social justice (superficial divisions and sectors be damned); her show of compassion toward all living beings; her belief in the importance of living simply and healthfully; the pull of nature she felt so keenly; and her ease in falling into a mutually satisfying conversation with practically anyone she happened to run into . . . all have rubbed off on her daughter, and Elizabeth is tremendously grateful to her mother for these precious gifts.
Joyce was preceded in death by her husband, grandparents, parents, sister-in-law, aunts and uncles, and cat companions. Her known ancestral roots are in Ireland, Germany, and Hungary--and the native New Yorker's ancestral ties to various locations in New York State go back many generations, prior to the founding of this country. Interestingly, not until nearly fifteen years after moving to Iowa, which she was seeing for the first time in 1968, did she learn that her paternal great-grandfather helped settle the town of North English, in the eastern part of the state.
Joyce is survived by her daughter Elizabeth Cummings and son-in-law Tom Glorfield of Iowa City; stepson Edward Elliot Cummings of Philadelphia; nephew Douglas (Janis) Fawbush of Nuangola and Enola, Pennsylvania; niece Sandra (the late Pat) Howard of South Carolina; and four first cousins, Patti (Pat) McGraw, Pam (Bob) Boissoneault, Cheryl Newlander (Daniel) Hubbard, and Suzanne Newlander (Alan) Arkin.
In addition to those already mentioned--and a number of whom already have been--Elizabeth would like to recognize the positive role that, in most cases, she personally observed the following individuals actively played at some point--if not many points--in her mother's life: The late Roland Rock; the late Leona Newlander Rock; the late Katharine Rock; the late Bill and Molly Lavin; the late Joan; the late Van; the late Janice (Chan) Parrot and Kelly Hironaka; Nie; Louisa Spottswood; the late Ellis and Shirley Hagstrom; the late Hazel, Harvey, and Judy Macomber; Rie and Bill; the late Larry and Lovella Holmes; John Barth; the late Helen and Lee Fawbush; Doug and Janis Fawbush; Sandy and the late Pat Howard; the late Robert and Sally Rock; Patti and Pat McGraw; Pam and Bob Boissoneault; the late Lee Bennett Schreiber; the late Will C. Jumper; the late Hazel and Buell Lipa; the late Ginny McCarthy; the Lowrys; the late Reverend Les Moore and Ruth Moore; the minister officiating at Alderson United Methodist Church at the Lake in the 80s; Reverend Jim Stiles; Reverend David Stout; Florence Schutter Bunker; Marge Grewell; Jackie and the late Dick Zbaracki; the late Dick and Helen Herrnstadt; the late John Doran, MD; the late Bill McCormack, MD; Ruth Anderson, RN; Donald Good, DDS; Lori Grant; Linda Woodworth; the late Wendell Johnson, MD; the late Bernice Ellsworth; Steve Affleck and the late Carolyn Hall Affleck; the late Mary Drake; Maynard "Casey" Drake; the late Merle Brown; the late Izola Brockmann; Bill and the late Shirley Reece; Fran and the late Jeff Berger; the late JoAnn and Bernie Brown; Sally Brown; the late Pat and Ruth Fitzgerald; Annette and the late Dan Forbes; the late June Weltha; Gary and Sharon Gabrielson; Leslie Snyder; Lee and the late Pat and Darcy Bergren; Pat Olsson, Julie Keigley, and Carla Turner; Deb and A.M. Fink; harlan groe; the late Faye Clapp; Hannah Coney; Lynn Stoutner; the late Anita Albert; Mary, fellow Seven Sisters alum, from the old neighborhood; Paula (Sharp) Miller; Julie Williams Nordin; Joel and Jasie Nott; Norma Woolf; the late Nell Turner; "Mrs. Stevens" at the Lake; Marion Hazeltine, Barb (Hazeltine) Shafer, and Lynne Hazeltine; Ron and Maureen Gosart; Eleanor Puterbaugh; Melissa and Darrell DeRadcliffe; J. Herman Blake; countless other interdepartmental colleagues while she served as an educator and advisor at Iowa State--including Bob Hollinger, Dick Tondra, Geoff Abelson, Dee Hurst; the late Dennis Peterson; Carolyn Russell, the late Trudy Dirks, JoAnn McKinney, Catharine Phillips-Bui, Juan Davila, Kathleen Timmons, Ellen Holm, Ann Farni, and Nancy Osborn Johnson--and as an instructor at DMACC; Carla Gardner; Betty Barton; Ann Rohovit; Terry Lowman; Linda Hefley; Mary (Salawuh) Warren; Jane and Cal Halliburton; Ann Campbell; Lois Heins; Donna Halloum; Mary (Healy) Herrnstadt; the late John Hilgerson; John Forssman; Matt Pepper; Brian Snider; David Battani; Ginger of Safeway; Kim McDermott; John Norman and Bonnie Epstein Norman; Genevieve Pyle of "Pyle's" (Pyle Photo Service); Ole of Goodyear; Volkswagen enthusiast Glynn Scott Frank; Barb Heins; Wendy (Conley) Paulson; and the staff at Emerhoff's Footwear who patiently helped Joyce find the right fit in later years for what she dubbed her "trick foot". If anyone reading this worked at stores of yore--Engeldinger's, Ames Stationers, Carr Hardware, Safeway, Nim's, Boyd's Dairy, Fastco, TG&Y, Sears, Sav-U-Mor, Younkers, K-mart--or the following that are still in operation--"Penney's", Hy-Vee along South Fourth Street, the Younkers Tea Room in Des Moines, or Prairie Lights in Iowa City during my mom's time in Ames--you likely helped her at some point, too. Thank you.
Special thanks, also, to Wilmington Friends School (in particular, Lynne Nathan), whose legacy archival team's dedication to careful, detailed recordkeeping is unmatched.
Finally, Elizabeth wants to express deep gratitude for the professionalism exhibited by the following individuals after the sudden, accidental death of her mother. David Johnson; Joe Reimers; Joe Newman; Kelly Skelly, MD; and Ed Moreano: You all showed me you understand the delicate, indefinite time period that follows the death of a loved one; Tom and I learned the hard way that not everyone does. Thank you for the ways in which each of you provided guidance and insight at such a hurtful time. In particular: David, thank you for being there during this long journey and supporting me in the personalized manner you have; Joe Reimers, thank you for intervening on our behalf during a heart-wrenching situation (when you didn't have to); Joe Newman, thank you for telling me to take my time; Dr. Skelly, thank you for encouraging me to attend the Iowa City Hospice bereavement support group, led by Ed; and Ed, thank you for facilitating the most delicate of discussions . . . I am grateful to begin the process of being a part of them.
Everyone mentioned in this write-up (and no doubt, countless others) was there for Joyce in some way, shape, or form that may have seemed in some cases like nothing at the time (or over time) but to be sure, mattered significantly to her and her small family. Sometimes, life seemed to present innumerable, insurmountable struggles--some shared here, some not; a small kindness or a good chat lifted Joyce's spirits and helped her considerably. THANK YOU.
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A private ceremony will be held at the Ames Municipal Cemetery in the fall, at a cooler time when a redbud tree can safely be planted in memory of both Joyce and David.
If you would like to recognize Joyce in some way, please consider making an affordable donation in her name* to one (or more) of the following four Iowa-based organizations, whose work she believed in, wholeheartedly:
- The Black Cultural Center at Iowa State
- City of Ames Animal Shelter
- The Emma Goldman Clinic of Iowa City
- NAMI Johnson County
*Because the online donation process of these organizations can unfortunately be unintuitive, labyrinthine, or as Joyce might say, "Simply ridiculous!" at times--and because we want you to feel safe and secure making a donation--step-by-step guidance is provided for each outfit, at the link below:
Click here to visit Online Obituary, Sympathy Store and to Leave Condolences.