Joyce C. Gurley

Peggy Joyce Crisp Gurley, long-time resident of Mt. Olive, NC, passed away peacefully Thursday morning, September 11, 2025 surrounded by her family. Joyce was the daughter of the late William Oscar Crisp and Lillian Price Crisp of Greenville, NC and spent her younger years growing up on a tobacco farm in the Winterville area of Pitt County, NC. Joyce met the love of her life, the late Pete Gurley, during his college days as an East Carolina University Pirate and they were married in August of 1959. When Pete took a position with Wayne County Schools the couple moved to Mt. Olive in 1964. While raising two daughters, Joyce also attended and graduated from Mt. Olive Junior College and went on to receive a degree in Education from East Carolina University. Joyce was a member of the First Methodist Church in Mount Olive and a life-long educator with Wayne County Schools, teaching early and middle grades for over twenty-five years. When Joyce was not in the classroom she could be found playing a round of golf at Southern Wayne Country Club or enjoying time at the beach at their home in Emerald Isle, NC. She was also an avid East Carolina University fan and loved watching any sport the Pirates were playing, especially Pirate Football. She was quite the card shark; always ready to play a game of Bridge or Poker, usually coming out victorious. Of all the things she enjoyed doing, spending quality time with her family and especially her beloved grandchildren, was her absolute favorite.

Joyce is survived by her daughters; Sharon G. Jeanes and husband James of Mount Olive, and Carolyn G. Rathbone of Dudley; her beloved grandchildren; Owen Benton, and his wife Olivia, Emily B. Hinson and husband Andy, Kelsey R. Westbrook and husband Charles, and Willis Long Rathbone; one great-grandchild, Hannah; a sister-in-law, Martha Ann Gurley Ellis, and several nieces and nephews.

A graveside service to celebrate the life of Joyce will be held on Sunday, September 14, at two o'clock in the afternoon at Wayne Memorial Park, Dudley, NC with Mr. Michael Odom officiating. The family will receive friends on Sunday following the service and other times at the residence of her daughter and son-in-law, Sharon and James Jeanes.

In addition to her parents, Joyce was preceded in death by her husband, Raymond G. "Pete" Gurley; sisters, Viginia C. Corbett, Lillian C. Corbett, Annie C. Stokes, Evelyn C. Brooks, Norma L. Crisp and brothers James M. Crisp, William Oscar Crisp, Jr., and Al P. Crisp.