Joyce Sommers

JOYCE ANN SOMMERS was born on April 2, 1937 to Earl and Iona (Shannon) Beatty in Janesville, Wisconsin. For a majority of her younger years, Joyce moved a great deal, before finally settling in Pipestone, Minnesota. Joyce welcomed three of her children into her life. In December of 1960, Joyce was united in marriage to Eldon Sommers. To this union was born another child. The family of six continued to live in Pipestone, where Joyce worked in various places as a cook, but most prominently worked as a cook at Gannon’s. Eldon preceded Joyce in death on May 3, 1988. Joyce remained in the family’s home and filled her time with volunteer work for the Senior Center and continued working. In June of 2019, Joyce moved to Mankato, Minnesota to be closer to family members. Joyce died peacefully while surrounded by her family on Saturday, March 7, 2020 at the Mayo Clinic in Mankato at the age of 82 years 11 months, and five days.

Joyce was a proud member of the Peace United Methodist Church in Pipestone and was active in volunteer work, selling tickets and accepting money at the table for the Belgian Waffle feed. Joyce was a creative individual that loved painting ceramics, crocheting, and most of all cooking. No one was ever allowed to leave Joyce’s home hungry. She also planted a garden and canned her produce from it. Joyce enjoyed playing cards, especially cribbage, and had an extensive collection of plants, thanks to her “green thumb”. Above all else, Joyce had a deep love of God, her friends, and her family.

She is lovingly remembered by her two children, Gwen Becker of St. Paul, Minnesota and Rick (Korine) Sommers of Raymond, Minnesota; seven grandchildren, Jon (Laura) Becker, Tom (Jasmine) Becker, Mike Becker, Matthew Becker, Steven Becker, Jennifer Sommers, Derick Sommers; two great-grandchildren, Matthew Becker and James Becker; her sister, Carol Redwing of Watertown, South Dakota; her brother, Don (Marcella) Beatty of Balaton, Minnesota; many nieces and nephews; and many other loving friends and family members. Joyce was preceded in death by her husband, Eldon; two sons, Steven “Butch” Becker and Darron Becker; two brothers, David and Dennis Beatty; and her parents, Earl and Iona.