Letha Mae Joyce's Obituary
Letha Mae Joyce was born to Bill and Pearl Burkett of Locust Grove, OK. Letha Mae was the second born of the five siblings Billye, Bob, Carol, and Connie. She is survived only by her youngest sister Connie Chatfield Howe of Broken Arrow. Letha married her high school sweetheart Charles Edwin Joyce who passed in 2019 at the age of 90. Letha and Charles had two sons Ronald Edwin and Charles Ernest, Ernie, who passed in 2013. She was loved by six grandchildren, Tatia Ringle of Royse City, Tx; Kerry Joyce of Tulsa; Josh Joyce of New York City, NY; Casey Joyce of Broken Arrow; Amaya Owens of Broken Arrow; and Cortney who passed in 1989. She boasted of her great grandchildren July, Eli, Ty, Ella, Bailey, Jaden, Aliyah, Makai, and Izayah. She was blessed to have two great-great grandchildren Amberlee and Raylen.
If asked about the most life-changing event she ever encountered she would happily tell of when she realized that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God, and believed Him to be the Savior of the world. She made that confession and was baptized before the church at Belview Baptist in the early 1950s. Letha attended Belview for eight decades. She laughingly would say I wore out eight or nine preachers at Belview.
This straight-talking farm girl would tell you, “The value of what Jesus has done for us can’t be fully understood, but what is understood is that there is no one who has done more to radically change my life and family for the better.”
Letha understood love as service. She volunteered to help ministries that provided clothing and household items to needy families. She also took an active role in the PTA, and shuffling kids to the local swimming pool on hot days in the summer. Her service to her church included: Sunday school teacher, nursery worker, Bible School worker, church bus worker, sponsor at Falls Creek, sponsored impromptu teen putt-putt golf trips, bowling tournaments and was cook & bottle washer at countless events like weddings, funerals, or anniversaries. In the days when calling on neighbors was welcomed, she met nearly every family within 1/2 mile of the church in every direction. She made it a point to invite them to Belview and write down all their names. In those years she had met and knew the names of nearly all the families in her greater neighborhood. Seventy years later she was called on by those old friends (now adults). Occasionally someone who rode the church bus would stop by to say “hello”. The impact of service is often hard to measure, and the value of 70 years of service is perhaps impossible. But for her church, her family, and her neighborhood it was an invaluable gift, often resulting in eternal benefits.
For anyone that is not able to attend Letha's service in person, Floral Haven will be livestreaming the service. Please utilize the link below to watch the service. The link will be live 15 minutes prior to the start of the service.
https://webcast.funeralvue.com/events/viewer/109989
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