Patricia "Joyce" Atha

FAIRBORN — Patricia "Joyce" (Elliott) Atha, 89, of Fairborn, passed away Tuesday, 13 September 2022. Joyce is preceded in death by her beloved and much missed husband of 61 years, Darold "Gene" Atha, father Ernest Elliott, mother Anne (Casey) Elliott, sister Hilary (Elliott) Bolton, and many Aunties and Uncles. She is survived by her daughter Annette (Atha) Dunbar (Stephen), son Stephen Gene Atha, grandsons Nicholas "Ned" Dunbar and Braedon Gene Atha, brother Clifford Elliott (Janet), and nieces and nephews in Ohio and in England, especially Joanne and Carole Elliott. Joyce was born and raised in Birkenhead England, except for the time she spent as a young girl evacuated to Wales after escaping from her bombed out home during WWII. Her first job was as an elevator operator or "lift girl" in a large department store, which she always fondly remembered. She then trained as a telephone operator, eventually working at nearby Sealand AFB where she met a young American GI named Gene Atha. Joyce and Gene courted and were married on 17 March 1956 and, within months, were stationed to Loring AFB, Maine. She left behind all she had known and all her family, crossing the Atlantic to start a lifetime of adventures moving all around the world as an Air Force wife. Places she lived in or visited included Maine, Texas, France, Belgium, Florida, New Orleans, Germany, the Netherlands, Delaware, Washington DC, New York City, California, the Philippine Islands, Thailand, Hawaii, London England, Azores Portugal, and Ohio, often returning home to visit her family in Birkenhead. Wherever she, Gene, Annette, and Stephen lived though, Joyce had her own special ways of making each house a home. After Gene retired from the USAF, she resumed her telephone operator career, working as a Civil Servant at Wright-Patterson AFB for many years. Joyce lovingly raised three dogs over the years (Tippy, Fluff, and Snooks) and was beyond overjoyed to be Nanny to her two grandsons, Ned and Braedon, of whom she could not have been any prouder. Family and friends are invited to visit at Belton-Stroup Funeral Home, 422 E. Dayton-Yellow Springs Rd., Fairborn, on Sunday, 9 October 2022, at 3:00 pm, with a service beginning at 4:00 pm, the Reverend Michael Fitzpatrick officiating. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to St Jude Children's Research Hospital. "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." 2 Corinthians 12:9