Joyce Kelly Gerdel, beloved wife of John Gerdel for 63 years, passed away in Houston, Texas, on February 2, 2022, at the age of 86.

Joyce was born Joyce Elaine Kelly to Owen and Helen Kelly on March 6, 1935, in Ann Arbor, Michigan.  She graduated from McGuffey High School in Oxford, Ohio, and received a BS in Education from Miami (Ohio) University. A dedicated homemaker, mother, and Girl Scout leader, she also worked as a high school teacher in Ohio and a junior college career counselor at Mountain View College in Dallas, Texas.  Her passion was her cooking, which was amazing, and all of us who loved her were the beneficiaries.

Joyce was preceded in death by her parents, along with her sisters Jean Kelly Beasley (Charles) and Jocelyn Kelly.  She is survived by her husband John; her sister Janet Kelly Chehab (Samih) of Daytona Beach, Florida; her two daughters Beth Martin (Eddie) of Spring, Texas, and Jennifer Reiss (Bill) of Port St Joe, Florida; her grandchildren Rachel Martin (Anthony), Scott Martin, Randy Martin, and Katie Martin Helmcamp (Kade); and her great-grandson Matthew Martin Soriano, all from Houston, Texas.

Following a family graveside memorial service, Joyce will be laid to rest at the Houston National Cemetery.  Funeral arrangements are entrusted to Klein Funeral Home.

Those are the basics. If you would care to know more about Joyce, please read on for "the rest of the story."

Joyce was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on March 6, 1935, the third of four daughters.  She and her three sisters Jean, Janet and Jocelyn were born a mere four years apart. Their dad, Owen, a barrel-chested 21-year veteran of the Coast Guard, spent several of those years chasing rum runners on the Great Lakes.  When the war began, he was stationed to Boston, where the family moved, and Owen left to patrol the South Pacific. Their mom, Helen Slack Kelly, was an understandably independent woman who began teaching advanced students using her two-year teaching degree. Most of the daughters favored their mother, but Joyce reflected her dad's Irish heritage, with her long dark braids and abundant freckles.

While Joyce was young, the family moved almost yearly to various places around the Great Lakes – including Detroit, Port Huron, Alpena, Toledo, and Houghton on the Upper Peninsula, where snowfall could rise to the second-floor windows, and eventually Boston.  With Owen so often gone for extended periods, Mom Helen and the four girls formed a close-knit group.  In fact, too close-knit at times - in a childhood experience with quarantine, all four girls were confined to home with scarlet fever, with a prominent sign placed in the front yard to warn away visitors.

When Owen retired from the Coast Guard, the family moved to Darrtown, Ohio, where he became a well-loved constable for Butler County.  Darrtown is near Oxford, the home of Miami University.  Owen became deeply involved in the community, serving as VP and President for the athletic booster Miami Tomahawk Club.  Helen resumed her education, and went on to finish both her Bachelor's and Master's Degrees in Education from Miami University.  Joyce and her sisters proudly attended McGuffey High School, followed by Miami University as well.  Joyce graduated with her own Education degree from Miami in 1957.

John also attended Miami, and he and Joyce met there in the summer of 1957.  Joyce had just graduated, and John was in his senior year.  Immediately both seemed to know what they had found.  Joyce had begun teaching high school typing and shorthand in Piqua about 70 miles away, so every weekend she rode the train back to Oxford– such a frequent and pleasant traveler that the conductor eventually stopped taking her tickets, and she rode for free.   She stayed with her mom to spend her weekend time with John.  Dating was primarily Sigma Nu fraternity parties and ice skating on frozen ponds – new ice skates became Joyce's first Christmas present from John.  In an act of love and rebellion, John even signed over title to his '49 Ford to Joyce, a ploy allowing him to dodge Miami's rule against student-owned cars.

Within a year they were married – June 8, 1958, followed by a honeymoon at Niagara Falls – and began their life together, as John finished graduate school and Joyce continued teaching.  Their first home was a rental house owned by John's college advisor.

After graduating in 1959, John volunteered to join the Army.  He was assigned to serve as a post writer for the Army Information School headquartered at Fort Slocum, New York.  His post was on David's Island in Long Island Sound in New Rochelle. John and Joyce moved to a one-bedroom apartment in town, a young couple suddenly on their own.

Not for long, as daughters Beth and Jennifer soon came along in rapid succession.  With two toddlers, little money, and no family nearby for support, it was a challenging time, particularly for Joyce.  John took the ferry to the base every day as Joyce was the vigilant mom in their fourth-floor walk-up apartment.  To make ends meet, John worked nights in a nearby liquor store.  Joyce efficiently had his dinner ready so he could get home, eat, and quickly head back out to the store.  After the store closed, John came home, packed up the days' dirty diapers, and headed for the washateria.  It could be stressful at times, but the little family thrived anyway, and even made time for weekend day trips to local sights like West Point.

After John left the Army, the family packed their belongings (meaning two cribs) and moved to Cincinnati.  John began work there using his MBA, joining as a Market Analyst for Shillito's, a subsidiary of Federated Department Stores.  It was good to be back near family – Joyce's sister Janet even furnished their first home with furniture from a fish camp that she owned.

Four years later, John accepted a promotion to VP of Market Research for Federated's Sanger-Harris division in Dallas.  The family moved south – first to North Dallas, then to Oak Cliff, before finally settling in Duncanville.

Joyce fully came into her own here.  A traditional family, John was able to focus on his career, and Joyce managed everything else.  Her home was always spotless, her dance team daughters and their friends were loved and supported, her many friends enjoyed her companionship and steaming coffee, and her family meals were amazing and never missed.  June Cleaver would have looked on in awe.

As Beth and Jennifer left for college, Joyce decided she would take on a job to help pay college costs.  She became a Career Counselor at Mountain View College, a job that she fell in love with as she helped match junior college kids with potential employers.  Even more, she stepped into the role of a kind and wise counselor, one whose quiet listening helped countless students with so much more than simply finding a job.

Eventually, John was offered another executive position, this time with Foley's in Houston.  This was a great match as Beth and Eddie were living there and Joyce's grandkids were on the horizon.  John and Joyce left Duncanville for Houston, where they soon decided it was time to retire from his successful career and graduate to enjoying life, traveling, and grandparenting.  Jennifer eventually moved from Dallas to Houston as well, so Joyce had the entire family together for many, many years.

John and Joyce were still young, just in their 50's, as they took up traveling across the world, beginning with a month-long driving excursion taking them from Texas to California via the great national parks, then north to Washington and Butchart Gardens, returning east across Canada and the northern US.  They then set out for international destinations, touring the UK, Switzerland and Scandinavia – Joyce particularly loved the fjords of Norway.   They explored both coasts of Mexico, strolled the great cities like Paris and London, and went road tripping through the wilds of Alaska.

When home, they were a constant presence involved in helping raise their grandchildren, rarely missing a game or event.  Joyce's grandkids always felt loved, knowing they could always turn to Grandma for sage and kind advice.  They also knew Joyce could be counted on for delicious cooking, including her famous desserts – almond cheesecake, trifle, tiramisu, hot cross buns, cinnamon rolls, yule logs, and white cake (copycat Beasley cake)!  She initiated the extravagant meals that the family continues to traditionally serve each holiday.

Joyce was also an excellent seamstress – first creating her daughters' kid clothes and dance costumes. Later, her grandsons became Halloween's most realistic Ninja Turtles, and her granddaughters transformed into princesses and brides of every persuasion.  She taught her daughters to carry on her craft, so much that Beth extensively modified her own wedding dress.

Joyce was never cheap, but she loved to maximize value.  She treated discount shopping as a game; her mission was to see how she could creatively weave discounts and sales promotions to get the most bang for her buck.  She would frequently hold up a beautiful sweater or blouse – typically a gift she'd purchased for someone else – and proudly recount the amazing series of discounts and savings she'd employed, so she could get that $200 item for $12.50.

Joyce also loved sweepstakes, and she approached them with the same gusto.  She loved winning and she won often.  She'd acknowledge that many of her prizes didn't amount to much – a t-shirt, a mug, a baseball cap – but then she'd point out the bigger game she had taken – an expensive Dutch Electra bicycle, a Big Green Egg, and finally, her pinnacle: she won an art-lover's trip to Rome and Florence. Joyce and Jennifer enjoyed that unforgettable mother-daughter trip together, including private tours of Tuscan vineyards.

In a much less welcome adventure, Joyce and John survived Hurricane Harvey, when flood waters from sixty inches of rain began rising into their one-story home in the Champions area during the night.  They anxiously scrambled into the attic as the dark waters continued to rise, with no idea when it might subside.  Out of the darkness, they heard the voices of rescuers, and Joyce blew her emergency whistle.  Their rescuers heard them and gathered them into their boat, taking them to nearby Champions Church of Christ, where members gave them dry clothes, food and shelter for several days.  Joyce and John were deeply grateful for these acts of courage and kindness.

As time went on, Joyce slowed down a bit.  She spent more time at home on her computer and reading, including the obituaries.  She read them every day, and she seemed to take great pleasure in noting people's lives and accomplishments.  All of us that she loved and loved her – we are her accomplishments.  We can only hope this one does her justice.

We will miss her very much.