Joyce McNamara Crumpacker

1938 - 2024

Madeline (Joyce) McNamara Crumpacker of Greensboro, aged 85. died on Tuesday, April 2, 2024. Born in San Bernardino, CA on October 29, 1938 to William and Ada McNamara, she was the youngest of eight children and needed to hit the ground running. A lover of babies, Joyce not only raised her own three children, she also raised her goddaughter Sarahbeth Larrimore, godson Andrew Larrimore, and three of her grandchildren, Derin, Shelby and Ethan.

Joyce grew up in a different time, when southern California was full of farmland and orange groves. A farm girl at heart, she loved raising animals and playing with the three sisters closest in age to her - Marnie, Kay and Ferdie. They were all incredibly close - sharing one bed between the four of them - and were (usually) the best of friends. They all learned to sew their own clothes from an early age, pulling out any seams that were deemed not straight or had uneven stitching. Our Mom carried this lesson of perfection throughout her life into everything she touched and it served her well whether sewing clothes, raising children or making costumes fo The Sweet Adeline's. As children, we never tired of falling asleep to the sound of her sewing machine and waking up to a freshly made and pressed dress at the foot of our beds. Mom made all of our clothes, our fabulous halloween costumes, Easter clothing, at least one of Daddy's suits, our prom dresses, Nancy's wedding dress, Susan's Wedding skirt - she could and would sew anything and did so beautifully - the backs of her sewing were just as pretty as the fronts.

Mom met Dad in college at San Bernardino Valley College and remembered him aggravating her as he sat behind her in chorus, pulling her hair to get attention. Despite the aggravation, she was interested enough to accept his request for a date. The story goes that Daddy asked her to marry him on that first date and when she said "no", continued to ask her on every subsequent date until she finally said yes. Clearly it was a good match as they were married almost 67 years. They were incredibly young (19 and 21) and chose to be married in Carson City, NV because it was halfway between dad's family and mom's. After a few lovely days spent at Crater Lake with Mom feeding chipmunks and Daddy fishing, they spent the rest of their honeymoon visiting with family members and getting to know everyone. They made their first home in a trailer, with no bathroom, but were in love, incredibly happy and conveniences like bathrooms didn't much matter. Mom was a full-time housewife and the frugal one in the family. She kept a tight grip on the house expenses throughout their lives together. Dirt poor, we remember growing up eating pancakes for breakfast and then leftover pancakes rolled with peanut butter for lunch. Mom was also very creative and industrious - one of our earliest memories was mom building and upholstering our first sofa - she cut the wood, wrapped each piece with foam and upholstered it with a fashionable red plaid fabric and carefully placed upholstery tacks. It was amazing and beautiful and we kept that sofa for years.

Mom and Dad moved our family from California to Mobile, AL when Mom was nine months pregnant with our brother Alan in August of 1966. They almost didn't let her on the plane but mom was a fierce force and insisted, "I've given birth twice and can deliver this one if needed." They wisely let her on. Of course, Alan arrived three weeks late but we were living in a Holiday Inn with a pool and a/c, so Nancy and I were perfectly content. We lived happily in Mobile from 1966-1972, made lifelong friends, were active in Central Presbyterian Church and spent many summers across the Bay in Fairhope eating shrimp, crabbing off the piers and soaking up the sun. it was an idyllic place to grow up.

From there, Dad was transferred to North Carolina - a big culture shock to all of us - but we learned to love NC and soon called it home. Mom and Dad built a house in Kernersville where they lived for 40 years. We joined Kernersville Moravian Church where Mom and Dad sang in the choir and were the adored Youth leaders for many years. Mom started working at VF Jeanswear/Wrangler in the late 90's as a prototype sewer and loved working there until she retired in March of 2012. Eventually their house in Kernersville became too big for Mom to care for and for Daddy to mow. In 2013 we convinced them to move to Greensboro to be closer to family for care as they got older.

Joyce is survived by her loving husband of 66 years, Buddy, her sister Margaret (Marnie) Smith of Canyon City, Colorado, daughter Susan and partner Jim Torrey of Greensboro; daughter Nancy of Lexington, son Alan and wife Angela of Littleton, Colorado, granddaughter Derin Knowles Griffith and husband Charles of Greenville, NC, granddaughter Shelby Knowles Luviano and husband José of Lexington, grandson Ethan of Lexington, grandsons David Crumpacker of Tucson, AZ and Jackson Crumpacker of Grand Junction, Colorado and great grandchildren, Everett Griffith, Reid Griffith and Claire Luviano.

A memorial service will be held in the sanctuary of Kernersville Moravian Church on Friday, June 21 at 11:00AM.