Joyce Elaine Tromp 1943 - 2024
TROMP, HERRICK, CHRISTENSEN
Posted By: Connie J Swearingen (email)
Date: 1/20/2024 at 13:16:47
The Mapleton Press
Mapleton, Iowa
19 January 2024Joyce Tromp, age 80, of Battle Creek, IA, formerly of Mapleton, IA and Bridgewater, IA, passed away on Friday, January 12, 2024 at her home, surrounded by her loving family.
The family invites you for brunch to celebrate Joyce’s life and to share precious memories on Saturday, April 13, 2024, from 10:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m. at the Mapleton Community Center, 511 Main Street, Mapleton, IA. Interment will be at Mount Hope Cemetery in Mapleton.
The Armstrong-Van Houten Funeral Home of Mapleton, IA, are in charge of the funeral arrangements.
Joyce Elaine, the daughter of George “Nate” Tucker and Beulah (Herrick) Tucker-Christensen, was born July 27, 1943 on a farm in Adair County, IA. She was the oldest of two siblings, Teddy and Dixie. Joyce spent her childhood working hard on the farm, riding horses and helping her mother at their café in Bridgewater. She graduated high school from Bridgewater-Fontanelle in 1961.
On March 29, 1962 in Omaha, NE, Joyce was united in marriage to M. Charles Tromp. The couple made their home in Mapleton, IA and were blessed with five children: Lori, Lisa, Lynn, Charles and Leslee. After Chuck’s death in 1994, Joyce welcomed son, Rocky into the family and became reacquainted with a childhood friend, Earl Christensen. On August 15, 1998, Joyce and Earl were married in Fontanelle, IA and lived on their farm outside of Bridgewater until his death in 2005.
While in Mapleton, Joyce worked for Maple Heights Nursing Home as a dietary manager for 20 years, was an EMT with the ambulance crew and taught Sunday School at St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church. When she moved to Bridgewater, she became a teacher’s aide at the elementary school and had been a clerk at the post office.
In her free time, Joyce enjoyed many activities with family and friends. She was especially fond of book club, bible study, reading, playing cards, watching her westerns and absolutely adored her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She was a wonderful cook and welcomed any excuse to use her family as guinea pigs for new recipes. Joyce loved hosting family holidays and always looked forward to ‘Grandkids Weekend’. She had a wonderfully, ornery sense of humor and loved to “shock and awe” her children and grandchildren whenever she got the chance. Joyce unselfishly cared for her friends, neighbors and community as well as donated to several organizations such as St. Jude Children’s Hospital and the Wounded Warrior Project, to name a few. She had a spunky and generous spirit and will be dearly missed.
Left to cherish her memory are her children: Lori (Steve) Phillips of Ida Grove, IA; Lisa Anderson and Glen Hanson of Greenfield, IA; Lynn (Tedd) Christensen of Fontanelle, IA; Chuck (Tasha) Tromp of Clay Center, KS; Leslee (Josh) Smith of Ankeny, IA; Rocky (Dixie) Melton of Castana, IA; sister, Dixie (Mike) Sorensen of Greenfield, IA; 18 grandchildren, 19 great-grandchildren; numerous nieces, nephews; extended family and friends.
Joyce was preceded in death by her parents, Nate and Beulah; husbands, Chuck and Earl; granddaughter, Brooklyn Melton; great-grandson, Emmett Grove; son-in-law, Adam Varga; brother and sister-in-law, Ted and Judy Tucker; and best friend, Jeanie Farnsworth.
Memorials may be sent to the family at 2803 NW 34th Lane, Ankeny, IA 50023 to donate to a few charities Joyce generously gave to.
Monona Obituaries maintained by Linda Ziemann.
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