Joyce Robinson Goodrich died at the Chesapeake Retirement Community in Newport News Virginia on November 25, 2025. She was born on July 4th, 1933 in Detroit to a Texan and a South Dakotan who moved from small farms to Detroit for a better life. Her parents, Edward Robinson and Lucille Ford Robinson, met at Central United Methodist Church, in downtown Detroit and their family continued as active church members for many years. Siblings were Lucian Robinson, Sally Williams, and Ruth Van Lehn. Father Ed built the family home in Warrendale, then a leafy corner of Detroit, with his own hands. Mother Lucille worked as a pharmacist at Michigan Central (train) Station. Sister Ruth participated in lunch counter protests and parents Ed and Lucille worked to integrate Central Methodist Church where MLK preached several times in the 1960s.
Joyce played the flute and sang in the church choir. She attended Mackenzie High School in Detroit and went on to receive a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from Wayne State University Detroit. She met her future husband George Goodrich there on an American Youth Hostel bike trip. They married in 1956. Joyce made not only her own wedding dress but also the bridesmaid and flower girl dresses. Children Kris, Dan, and Ken followed. The family resided in Oak Park Michigan and then Bloomfield Township enjoying outdoor activities such as camping, skiing, skin diving, and sailing and summers at the Schaefer Club on Round Lake in Hartland Michigan. Joyce and George were enthusiastic amateur musicians playing for many years with the Birmingham Community Band. Joyce worked as a public health nurse at the Oakland County Health Department when the kids were older.
In 2001 Joyce and George moved to Newport News Virginia to be near their son Ken, a NASA engineer, and his family. Their other son Dan, a single parent of two girls, moved in with them in 2010. Joyce and George played in the Peninsula Concert Band for many years. Joyce volunteered at the Virginia Living Museum in Newport News. Joyce and her sister Ruth traveled the world together. Joyce and son Dan cared for George after he developed Alzheimer's, allowing him to remain at home until his death in 2017. Joyce was recently diagnosed as having late-onset Alzheimer's which progressed quickly due to her advanced age.
Joyce was a life-long volunteer in the Methodist tradition. She was the first to visit a sick person in the hospital, went to every funeral, and was a great letter writer and sender of birthday and Christmas cards and presents. She acted as the logistics officer for many family camping vacations. She was a good and thrifty cook preserving the vegetables from George's gardens. She was an artist who had an eye for design, color, and arrangement and who loved beautiful objects. Joyce was a very charitable person, including being a gallon blood donor many times over. She was calm, thoughtful, and a good problem solver and organizer.
Survivors are: children Kristin Goodrich Godo (Kjell), Daniel Goodrich, and Kenneth Goodrich (Amy); grandchildren Katherine (Katie) Goodrich, Mala Goodrich, Hunter Goodrich, and Camryn Goodrich; and many nieces, nephews, and cousins.
Joyce played the flute and sang in the church choir. She attended Mackenzie High School in Detroit and went on to receive a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from Wayne State University Detroit. She met her future husband George Goodrich there on an American Youth Hostel bike trip. They married in 1956. Joyce made not only her own wedding dress but also the bridesmaid and flower girl dresses. Children Kris, Dan, and Ken followed. The family resided in Oak Park Michigan and then Bloomfield Township enjoying outdoor activities such as camping, skiing, skin diving, and sailing and summers at the Schaefer Club on Round Lake in Hartland Michigan. Joyce and George were enthusiastic amateur musicians playing for many years with the Birmingham Community Band. Joyce worked as a public health nurse at the Oakland County Health Department when the kids were older.
In 2001 Joyce and George moved to Newport News Virginia to be near their son Ken, a NASA engineer, and his family. Their other son Dan, a single parent of two girls, moved in with them in 2010. Joyce and George played in the Peninsula Concert Band for many years. Joyce volunteered at the Virginia Living Museum in Newport News. Joyce and her sister Ruth traveled the world together. Joyce and son Dan cared for George after he developed Alzheimer's, allowing him to remain at home until his death in 2017. Joyce was recently diagnosed as having late-onset Alzheimer's which progressed quickly due to her advanced age.
Joyce was a life-long volunteer in the Methodist tradition. She was the first to visit a sick person in the hospital, went to every funeral, and was a great letter writer and sender of birthday and Christmas cards and presents. She acted as the logistics officer for many family camping vacations. She was a good and thrifty cook preserving the vegetables from George's gardens. She was an artist who had an eye for design, color, and arrangement and who loved beautiful objects. Joyce was a very charitable person, including being a gallon blood donor many times over. She was calm, thoughtful, and a good problem solver and organizer.
Survivors are: children Kristin Goodrich Godo (Kjell), Daniel Goodrich, and Kenneth Goodrich (Amy); grandchildren Katherine (Katie) Goodrich, Mala Goodrich, Hunter Goodrich, and Camryn Goodrich; and many nieces, nephews, and cousins.
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