Joyce Conley Carman-Baldus

Joyce Conley Carman-Baldus, 89, of Iowa City, passed away peacefully on October 31, 2024, at Oaknoll Retirement Residence.
Joyce was born in 1935, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Clair and Margaret (Wright) Conley. As a child, she lived in a multi-generational household with her parents, maternal grandparents, and her younger brother, Davie. Davie passed away from leukemia in 1945, at the age of six. Joyce graduated from Hampton High School in Pittsburgh in 1953, and from Allegheny College in Meadville, Pennsylvania in 1957 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Elementary Education.
She married John Homer Carman, of Pittsburgh, in 1956. Joyce and John had met in elementary school. After marrying in Pittsburgh they lived in Socorro, New Mexico; State College, Pennsylvania; Palo Alto, California; and Iowa City, Iowa. With John, Joyce brought four children into the world: Jeffrey, Craig, Kathryn, and Glen.
Joyce and John divorced in 1976. In 1980, Joyce married David Baldus, forming an expanded family with David and his daughters, Kate and Helen. Together, Joyce and David enjoyed opera, international travel, skiing, sailing, and afternoons with friends and family on their boat on the Coralville Reservoir. David died in 2011.
From 1969 until 1997 Joyce pursued her calling as a teacher in the Iowa City School System, first at Grant Wood Elementary, and then at Northwest Junior High School and Southeast Junior High School. For most of those years, she taught American History and Global Studies, subjects that allowed her to share with her students her love of learning and her curiosity about other times and places.
A strong advocate of social justice, Joyce sought various ways to work with others for a common cause, from her participation in the Civil Rights Movement during her time in Palo Alto in the 1960s, to her central roles within community organizations in Iowa City. She remained active in Compeer, the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, United Way, and the Iowa United Nations Association,for example, long after she retired from teaching. She was also very active in the Democratic Party and introduced former President (then candidate) Barack Obama during his first Iowa City appearance.
Joyce took art classes as a child in Pittsburgh, where she developed her talents and a lifelong love of art and color. She explored these interests in several ways: as a docent at the university art museum; in the roles she played in educational theater, both in a one-room schoolhouse and at the Black Angel in Oakland Cemetery; and especially with her own artwork. In recent years, she worked in landscape and abstract paintings and completed a book of poetry.
Joyce grew up in a family that found joy and solace in music, often in singing around the piano, which she and her parents would take turns playing. She also spoke fondly of the thrill she felt from the shared experience of singing in a choir. This sense of connection to friends, family, and community brought great fulfillment to her.
Joyce is survived by her children and their spouses/partners: Jeff Carman and Julie Arnold, of Nashville, Tennessee; Craig Carman and Chris Annicella, of Iowa City; Kathryn Robinson, of Chicago, Illinois; Glen Carman and Ann Bradlow, of Chicago, Illinois; and David's daughters, Kate Baldus and Oscar Stern, of Brooklyn, New York; and Helen Baldus, of Greeley, Pennsylvania. She is also survived by seven grandchildren and one great grandchild. Joyce was preceded in death by her brother David Conley, first husband John Carman, second husband David Baldus, son-in-law James Robinson (husband of Kathryn) and granddaughter Louisa Carman.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Iowa City Hospice, Shelter House, Neighborhood Centers, and Compeer.
Joyce loved Iowa City and appreciated the giving nature of the community.
A celebration of life will be held at a later time.
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