Ericksen, Joyce M. (1922-2017)

ERICKSEN, HANSEN, MADSEN, MACIAS, ESPINOZA, RABINOWITZ, DEANNE, WARRINER, JACOBSON, AMERDOSH

Posted By: Paul Nagy (email)
Date: 8/2/2017 at 19:15:44

Joyce M. Ericksen
February 13, 1922 - July 19, 2017

Joyce Margie Hansen, a daughter of Hans N. and Agnes (Madsen) Hansen, was born on February 13, 1922, in Elk Township, rural Alta, Iowa. She lived her youth in the Alta area, helping her dad farm as well as working for Rupert Wilmas. At age 12, she was driving a tractor and a 2-row cultivator. Baptized and confirmed in the Baptist faith at the Elk Baptist Church, rural Alta, she attended both grade school and high school at the Fairview School, graduating in 1939. Next, she worked for Superior Manufacturing in Albert City, Albertson & Company in Sioux City, the Peterson Grocery, the Drygoods Store in Alta, and the Professional Seed Company of Alta.

On July 4, 1945, Joyce accepted an engagement ring, and on November 11, 1945, she married Wayne W. Ericksen at the Elk Baptist Church, rural Alta. The couple was blessed with two children, Ardell Diane, in 1951 and Randall Wilbur, in 1953. Wayne and Joyce farmed the Ericksen Homestead west of Alta for forty years, and in 1992, she moved to her current location in Alta. She continued working with the soil, producing a large garden, and enjoying the fruits of her labor with family, friends, and neighbors.

A loving wife and devoted mother, Joyce kept a warm and comfortable home for her family, a home where guests were always welcome. Treasuring her faith in God, she passed that love on to her family and friends in thought, word, and deed. One of Joyce’s favorite verses was, “To the world you are one person, but to one person you are the world.” For seventy-two years, she belonged to the Alta United Methodist Church where she taught Sunday School, actively participated in the UMW, and served on the church board. A Charter Member of the VFW Auxiliary Post 6172 for seventy-one years, she, also, belonged to neighborhood card groups and Just A Club. In addition, she served as a member of the Resident Advocate Committee at Spectra Health Center and on the Meals on Wheels committee for several years.

She found her great joy in ordinary daily activities: working with her husband, Wayne, on the farm, attending sporting events, fishing, bowling, having her family visit, and hosting large meals at the farm for birthdays, Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas, and attending the Touch of Broadway and BVCT Summer Musical performances. She enjoyed playing games with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, especially dominos and crazy eights. Joyce will be well remembered for her countless visits to nursing homes and hospitals to cheer family members and friends.

Joyce went home on July 19, 2017, at her home in Alta at the age of 95 years, 5 months, and 6 days. She will be dearly missed by all who loved her.

Joyce was proceeded in death by her parents, Hans N. and Agnes Hansen; her husband, Wayne; her daughter, Ardell; her great-grandson, Alex Macias; two sisters, Loretta Smith and Maxine Miller and her husband, Kenneth; and her brother, Russell Hansen, and his wife, Elsie.

Those left to cherish her memory include her son, Randall Ericksen, of Alta, her granddaughters and their spouses: Terri, and her husband, Tomas Macias, and Krista, and her husband, Manuel Espinoza, all of Perry Iowa; her grandson, Nathan, and his wife, Lydia Rabinowitz, of Omaha; her brother-in-law, Raymond Deanne, and his wife, Loretta Ericksen, of Longmont, Colorado; six great-grandchildren: Tausha Warriner, Samantha Macias, Teresa, and her husband, Steven Jacobson, and Carmela and Hector Espinoza, all of Perry, and Jaxson Rabinowitz, of Omaha, and five great-great-grandchildren: Alex Fabio Amerdosh, Jason and Emma Jacobson, Alex Cardona Espinoza, and Omar Ruedos, also all of Perry; as well as other relatives and friends.

Funeral services for Joyce Ericksen of Alta will be held at 1:00 P.M. Monday, July 24, 2017, at Trinity Lutheran Church in Alta with Pastor Kim Dewey of the Alta United Methodist Church officiating. Burial will follow at Woodlawn Cemetery, Alta. Visitation will be Sunday from 2:00 until 4:00 P.M. at the Trinity Lutheran Church in Alta.

Redig Funeral Home, Aurelia, Iowa 2017

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