Joyce Holt

Joyce Holt was born February 21, 1937, in Mountain Grove, Missouri, the daughter of Ernest and Lola (Purgeson) Owens. She grew up with five sisters and the kind of steady, small-town love that stays with you for a lifetime. Joyce passed away on March 30, 2026 while living at Kabul Nursing Home.

As the fourth of six children, Joyce learned early how to work hard, share well, and find joy in the everyday rhythms of farm life north of Mountain Grove. She attended Mountain Valley country school—walking alongside her sisters each day—and later graduated from Mountain Grove High School with the Class of 1956. Before long, she was greeting neighbors and friends at the Ben Franklin store on the north side of the historic square, beginning a working life marked by reliability and warmth.

In 1955, Joyce met Louis Raymond Holt while he was home on leave from the United States Marine Corps. Those who knew them best would tell you it didn’t take long for Joyce and Raymond to realize they had found something special. On September 15, 1957, Rev. Homer Smith married them at her parents’ home. Together they built a life that would take them near and far, and they welcomed two children along the way, Tammy (born in South Carolina) and Doyle (born in North Carolina).

Joyce took real pride in being a military wife. Deployments to Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Cuba, and Okinawa brought long stretches of waiting and missing one another, but Joyce kept home feeling like home, wherever they were. Over the years, the Marine Corps carried their family to places like Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Pearl Harbor (Hawaii), and Santa Ana, California—and Joyce met each move with steady love and a gift for making a new place feel familiar.

After 26 years with the USMC, Raymond retired, and in 1978 Joyce and Raymond came back to a farm north of Mountain Grove to be closer to family. They enjoyed supporting the local VFW Post 3770, American Legion Post #30, and Fleet Reserve Association (FRA Branch 364). Joyce later worked for Walmart for 19 years, and the two of them settled into a routine that friends smiled to hear about: most mornings, Raymond made sure Joyce got to work on time, and after her shift he’d pick her up so they could head to the Hayloft restaurant for supper. They were known there as regulars—and good tippers. They also loved trips to Branson for a show and a good meal. After Raymond passed away in January 2017, Joyce moved into town in late 2018. She enjoyed being close to her sisters, going out to eat, and watching old westerns. As her health declined, she moved to Kabul Nursing Home in 2022.

Joyce accepted Christ as her personal Savior, and her faith remained a steady part of her life. Through the years she attended services at base chapels, and later she worshiped at Mountain Valley Free Will Baptist Church of Mountain Grove.

In addition to her parents, Ernest and Lola Owens, Joyce was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Raymond; her sister, Ernestine Smith; and her parents-in-law, Elmer and Minnie Mae (Tate) Holt.

Joyce is survived by her daughter, Tammy Ashlin (Harold) of Mountain Grove; her son, Doyle Holt (Michele) of Carl Junction, Missouri; four sisters, Jean Moore, Dorothy Stigall, Marjorie Carter, and Linda Keys, all of Mountain Grove; six grandchildren, Heather Terrill (Jonathan), Dalton Ashlin (Courtney), Wyatt Ashlin (Alyssa), Liam D. Holt (Ashley), Anna Kiera Holt Kennedy (Jeremiah), and Tyne Michele Holt (William); two great-grandchildren, Tatum Terrill and Macie Ashlin; her brothers-in-law, Lonnie Holt (Charlotte) of Mountain Grove and Vernon Holt (Lanea) of Mackay, Idaho; and many other relatives and friends who will miss her dearly.

The family extends special thanks to the staff at Kabul Nursing Home, along with Janet Bradshaw and Christina Sasser, for the compassionate care and kindness shown to Joyce.

Visitation will be held Saturday, April 4, 2026, 10AM at the Craig-Hurtt Funeral Home of Mountain Grove.

Funeral services will follow at 11AM, also at the funeral home, with Pastor Smiley Martin officiating.

Burial will take place at Hillcrest Cemetery in Mountain Grove.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Lymphoma Society or the Alzheimer’s Association c/o the funeral home.

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life"

John 3:16