Joyce Elaine Dykstra

JOYCE ELAINE DYKSTRA was born on April 29, 1940 to Clarence and Gladys (Styf) Borgerding in Zeeland, Michigan. She lived on Grandma Borgerding’s farm in Bauer, Michigan and in various towns and cities in Michigan. As a child she wore clothes sewn by her mother, including flower sack dresses. During the summer, she and her siblings topped onions, picked blueberries, strawberries and beans to earn money to buy school clothes. She had many animals in her life such as dogs, cats, ducks, and horses. She worked at the Rainbow Grill in Granville, Michigan as a car hop. Joyce left Hudsonville High School to attend Grand Rapids Beauty School in Grand Rapids, Michigan from 1957 to 1958. She was working as a beautician at Empress Beauty Salon in Grand Rapids when she met Maurice Lilley whom she wed in 1962. Joyce, Maurice and their first child Kathy, born in 1965, moved to Phoenix, Arizona in 1967. Two more children arrived, David in 1968 and Ellen in 1970. Joyce and Maurice would divorce soon after. While working at E.L. Grubers Underwear Company and attending Longview Reformed Church, she met and married Ronald Daniel Dykstra in 1973. She was a homemaker and received her GED in 1987. She worked at Tom Tates Buffett as a waitress and hostess. Her last employment was with Macy’s department store working in the café. She retired and moved with Ron to Trosky, Minnesota in 1995. While living there, she and Ron would visit many of the nursing homes in the area. Ron would sing and play his guitar and Joyce would play piano or visit with the residents. Joyce worked part-time for the Trosky Post Office until it was closed. After Ron passed away in 2012, she visited family in the U.S., Germany, and Netherlands. Joyce moved to Luverne, Minnesota in 2019 where she had an apartment at Blue Mound Towers. In 2020, she entered the Mary Jane Brown – Good Samaritan Society nursing home in Luverne where on Monday, May 9, 2022 she died peacefully at the age of 82 years, and 10 days.

Joyce attended church in Edgerton, Minnesota. She was a Sunday school teacher, choir member, AWANA teacher, and played organ and piano. She enjoyed cross stitching, gardening, playing piano, crafts, collecting poems, reading, and was a crafty dominoes player.

Joyce is lovingly remembered by her three children, Kathy (Tom) Keller of Luverne, David Dykstra of Trosky, and Ellen Dykstra of Evans, Colorado; seven grandchildren, Doug and Sabrina, David, Kristin, Paige, Elizabeth and Matthew; two great-grandchildren, Athena and Freddie-Lynn; and siblings, Hank (Carol) Borgerding of Denver, Colorado, Pat (Rich) Hovey of Fair Oaks Ranch, Texas, and Carol (Dr. Mark) Rummel of Prescott, Arizona. She was preceded in death by her husband, Ron Dykstra; and parents, Clarence and Gladys Borgerding.