Joyce Josephine Willis passed away on September 26th, 2022, only three weeks shy of her 99th birthday. She was a cherished wife, daughter, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister, aunt, and friend.

She was born on October 18, 1923, in Morris, Minnesota, to Rebecca and Jonathan Sommer. She was the sixth of seven children. Her childhood was spent on a farm where she worked hard, helping the family by caring for sheep, cows, chickens, and pigs and helping with gardening and canning. However, she said that it wasn't always just hard work. She had very fond memories of sledding and listening to Ma Perkins and The Guiding Light on the family radio. She and her siblings made a playhouse and a sack swing in a group of trees and would make "sandwiches" out of mud and cottonwood leaves.

Joyce went to a country school where there were eight grades combined into one classroom with only one teacher. She claimed, "I don't know how we did it, but we got a pretty good education." She had fond memories of roller skating, gliding on the ice rink, and going to dances. Though the family always had a car, they sometimes went to church in a sled, keeping warm under straw and blankets.

When she started high school, she went to town with her sister Florence, where they lived in a room that their parents had rented for them. They went home on Friday evenings and back to town on Monday mornings. They were treated with a quarter to spend on a movie each week.

Upon graduating high school, she moved to Minneapolis and took a course on Morse Code. Post-grad, she got a job teaching Morse Code to soldiers at an Air Force base in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where she met her future husband, Charles "Charlie" Wilson Willis. They were married in 1943 in Sioux Falls and spent part of their lives traveling to where the Air Force sent them. She had especially fond memories of living in France and was known to sprinkle French words and phrases into a conversation.

They had three daughters, Patricia, Sybil, and Charlene, and were blessed with many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. They were married for 57 years until his death in October 2000.

She spent the latter part of her life in Summerville, South Carolina where she was active in her church. She was a prolific reader of nonfiction and enjoyed doing crossword puzzles. Even when her eyesight became too poor to read, she continued to enjoy her beloved books on tape that she would get from the library. She loved going on cruises to Alaska, the Panama Canal, Russia, and the Caribbean.

She is survived by her daughters Patricia Tolbert and Charlene Alford, her son-in-law William Alford, her nieces and nephews, and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents, husband, siblings, daughter Sybil and son-in-law Richard Niemeyer, and her son-in-law Carl Tolbert. 

Joyce dearly loved having a nightly bowl of ice cream. In lieu of flowers and donations, treat yourself to some ice cream or something else that brings you joy. 

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