Joyce Ann Ryder

Joyce Ann (MaGill) Ryder 1930-2026
Following a debilitating virus, Joyce Ann (MaGill) Ryder of McIndoe Falls, VT, quietly passed in Whitefield, NH, on February 27, 2026, with family at her side. Joyce was born on June 5, 1930, in Laconia, NH, into a vibrant extended family, the middle of five children of Eliza Atlanta "Ela" (Burt) and Norman Joseph MaGill. In her 95 years, she lived a full and energetic life, and she enriched the lives of many.
While very young, Joyce's extended family moved back to St. Johnsbury, VT, to the North Danville Road house designed by her mother and built by her parents and grandparents. The small farm provided crops, dairy products, pigs, and fowl for consumption and sale. Her father worked full-time in manufacturing and played violin and sax at dances most nights. In the large four generation household, Joyce lived alongside her parents and four siblings (Gloria Isabel, Oliver Burt, Iris Ela and Norman Joseph II), as well as grandparents Charlotte Isabel (Fleming) and Joseph Gallagher MaGill, and her great-grandmother Isabella Gallagher Fleming. They frequently welcomed other relatives on an ad hoc or long-term basis, notably maternal aunt Harriet Hannah "Auntie Baby" Burt Mathers (1902-1953) and her children Rachel Mathers Buckley (1934-2005) and Ernest Ray Mathers, Jr. (1935-1997). Following the death of Joyce's mother in 1949, her father remarried in 1954 to Iva Mae (Wilson) Plamondon of McIndoe Falls, VT, and Joyce gained three step-siblings (Kathryn "Kay", Priscilla, and Wilson Plamondon).
Joyce attended St. Johnsbury Summer Street School, graduated from St. Johnsbury Academy in 1948, became a certified nursing assistant, participated in an extended theological study program through the United Church of Christ, and earned her Bachelor of Arts in Social Services, summa cum laude, at age 55, from Southern New Hampshire University. She obtained her driver's license in her early 50s. Joyce nearly always worked outside of the home on a full-time basis. Her primary work years spanned retail, clerical, health care, and social work.
Joyce married Harold Elson Ryder on June 26, 1949, at North Congregational Church in St. Johnsbury, VT. They bought a big house in the middle of McIndoe Falls in 1958, where they raised four children, Jade Elaine, Cathy Ann, Ross David and Scott Harold. Their home mirrored the welcoming spirit that Joyce's parents had modeled. During most of her years after the sale of the MaGill farm, Joyce's grandmother Charlotte (Fleming) MaGill lived with the Ryders. For many months, Harold's father Harold Roy Ryder also stayed with them, especially when recovering from surgeries or building his home in McIndoe Falls. In 1974 Joyce and Harold tried living full-time in Florida, but returned to their Vermont home in about 18 months, shortly after the death of their son Scott.
Starting in 1970 Joyce and Harold extended their welcome to encompass state foster children, over a hundred, primarily teens, over several decades. They cared about the well-being and personal interests of each foster child. Among them, Keith Pratt and Kelly Pratt Gibson remained part of the family.
Religion and spirituality played important roles throughout her life. During much of her childhood, Joyce attended two churches every Sunday with her parents, the Episcopal for her mother, and the Congregational for her father. In McIndoe Falls she was a member of the (Congregational) United Church of Christ, where she served as Sunday school teacher and superintendent, deacon, and a leader in the Ladies' Aide Society. Beyond her local church, Joyce was a member of the Vermont Christian Education Association, counselor at Camp Wihakowi, and in the leadership of the Vermont Conference of the United Church of Christ. Frequently, Joyce would debate various theological premises with her father-in-law, and The Abingdon Bible Commentary would be consulted.
Joyce grew up having music in her life, and combined with dancing, it brought her joy. Her father, Norman, played the violin and saxophone at home, for dances and at church. Since the passing of Joyce's father, her niece Martha (Gardner) Bonneau provided her with violin music she longed to hear. Joyce played elementary piano and violin. She tap danced (taught by cousin Clara MaGill Langmaid), jitterbugged, square and line danced. While they were dating, Joyce and Harold would alternate weekend activities between a dance for her and a movie for him. They joined several square dance organizations and traveled for square dance events. Locally they held and attended "house parties" that featured country and contemporary music for dancing, and frequently "home brew" that the couples took turns making from her grandmother Charlotte's recipe.
Family lore says Joyce's first sentence, "I want to go too," typified her impetuous attitude toward life. She was a joiner and a do-er. An energetic person, Joyce played basketball, swam in the nearby brook, participated in 4-H, and twirled as a majorette in her school years. She enjoyed the companionship of Chat-n-Chew outings and Friday afternoon tea parties. She was the only mom in the village who did cartwheels, taught tap dance, beat everybody she could at badminton, taught sex education as part of Sunday school, or would talk at length about politics and religion. If you come to the celebration of her life, ask her daughter Cathy about Joyce's adventures with the horse and the one-horse sleigh. Always competitive, she suffered cracked ribs from a PTA fundraiser adult basketball game. If nothing else was going on, out came the cards and board games.
Joyce was a family person. She and Harold prioritized time to visit with the families of their nearby relatives: the Russells, Gardners, MaGills, McGills, Lockes, and "Grammie" Iva Blondeau. The families exchanged visits over weekends, and kids were exchanged during the summer for several weeks. Around Christmas time they had festive gatherings with the MaGill and the Ryder sides of the family. Visits with the Dale Ryder family were less regular due to travel distance. Periodically the Ryder, Machell, and Gilman extended families held large reunions.
Joyce considered Canada to be her second home nation. The MaGills exchanged frequent visits with the Fleming and Burt cousins in Canada. Her mother maintained her Canadian citizenship, and her grandparents and recent forebears hailed from Canada too. Joyce and Harold continued these trips with their children. Joyce wished in 2024 that she could have gone along on the drive north to Melbourne, Quebec, with her daughters Jade and Cathy, and her niece Martha (Gardner) Bonneau, to visit with the offspring of her cousin Arlene (Fleming) and Garth Badger. One daughter, Janet (husband George) Wilkins, still lives in the farm house where Joyce's mother was raised, and another daughter, Linda (husband Irving) Lefebvre built a home on farmland next door. They also visited with Gary Badger and Dale (wife Thelma) Badger, and roamed the Gallup Hill Cemetery where many ancestors are buried or interred. They brought back stories of the current relatives, and many photos that Joyce poured over, including ones of her maternal uncle Henry Oliver "Harry" (1899-1993) and Clarissa Burt's home in Lennoxville, Quebec.
Joyce and Harold loved to travel. In 1965 they bought a big blue tent and started taking camping trips along the east coast of the USA. Later in their retirement, they traveled with a small camper around the States and "snowbirded" to Florida and other points south. They sailed on cruises to Alaska and around the Caribbean. Joyce greatly enjoyed trips with relatives and friends to the Canadian Maritimes, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Sweden and Norway. When Joyce lived with daughters Jade and Cathy, she traveled with their families as long as she could.
Joyce was a warm-hearted, open and welcoming person. According to her family and many friends, Joyce gave the "very best hugs in the world." At the same time, she was not wishy-washy, but rather feisty and protective of her family and anyone she cared about. She would tell you her opinion while respecting you as a person. She would bring out her facts and backup documents, and debate. She was quick to pick up the encyclopedia, the dictionary or other written sources to bolster her points. At several jobs she refused to take abuse and walked from them due to inordinate or inappropriate demands. You can ask her daughter Jade about her recent assessment of people and events in Washington, DC.
Over the years, Joyce created a welcoming and comfortable home. She was a handy and practical person who painted, wallpapered, sanded, mixed cement, reupholstered furniture, stripped and refinished furniture, and redesigned portions of the building. Joyce felt an affinity for Asian decor and used it as inspiration.
She sewed for the family, knitted, embroidered, and did crewel work and Swedish weaving. Her crafts were simple and cute. A grandson said he remembers her large drawer of art supplies. In her 50s and 60s she proudly showed off her woodworking skills, including making a rocking horse and cradle for her daughter Jade's children.
Joyce liked to bake, but not really to cook. Joyce's large garden yielded veggies for eating and canning. She baked cookies and cakes nearly weekly, but scones and popovers were her specialties. One of her nephews remarked that there were always cookies in the cookie jars at Aunt Joyce's. However, Harold said that she always burned the meat.
A colorful person in her appearance, Joyce often wore purple, lilac, lavender, pinks and blues. She considered her hair color a fashion statement. Having become white-haired early, she frequently had auburn shades to the extent that some people called her "Red." Later she tried out shades of lavender, purple, and blue. During her years at The Morrison Nursing Home, she loved having her nails brightly enameled.
Pet dogs, cats, and sometimes pigs were part of Joyce's family life. Most recently she doted on Taz, a pug-pom. She raised pet pigs, all named Susie, but they were for meat, too. Joyce amassed a large collection of all things pig.
Joyce had a gift for making close and lasting friendships. It would be impossible to list her wealth of friends. Her first bond outside the family in first grade and for 86 years was with Marion (Mann) Shirlock (1929-2022). Especially close to Joyce over their lives were her sister Iris (MaGill) Gardner, sister-in-law Irma (Ryder) McGill, step-sister Kay (Plamondon) Locke, step-mother Iva (Plamondon MaGill) Blondeau, and McIndoes confidant June (Blodgett) Sager. These were only rivaled by the "house party" gang, all now deceased, of Robert and June (Blodgett) Sager, Winona (Webb Pulkkinen) Farquhar and John Pulkkinen, Geraldine (McGuire) and Rowland Tewksbury, Verna (Hall) and Russell Masters, and Esther (Richardson) and Louis Thomas. Later, Alene Kristal, a friend of daughter Jade, and Joyce bonded and mutually unofficially adopted each other. More recently, Cindy Davidson and Millie Murtiff stayed in contact.
Unfortunately, loss of people Joyce loved was a constant over her years. During her pre-marriage teen years, her paternal great-grandmother and her paternal grandfather who lived in her home passed. Her mother died while Joyce was still 19 and still a newlywed. Joyce's father was buried on her 25th birthday. Joyce was certain that she would die young, and wanted her children to accept the cycle of life, and to enjoy cemeteries. Throughout her 30s and into her 40s, Joyce walked her children the half mile to the McIndoe Falls Cemetery, spread a blanket under the big pine tree, passed around sandwiches, read stories and poems aloud, discussed inscriptions and dates on headstones, and played hide-n-seek. However, it was her two sons who died young at ages 16 and 21 of brain hemorrhages. She outlived her husband by a few weeks short of 20 years.
The significant impact of deaths led Joyce to study grief, keep genealogy, to explore the writings of seers, to delve into past life regression and reincarnation, to submit her DNA for analysis, and to reinforce her wish to "live her years" to the fullest. She lamented that having a long life meant the loss of her contemporaries and most friends. But her spark for life remained stronger than most, strong in spirit and strong in body. Marion Shirlock's parting words to her were, "Joycie, the whole gang will be waiting for you."
Wherever Joyce was, there was activity and laughter. In many circumstances humor resulted from Joyce not hearing what was actually said. She didn't hear birds by the time she got to high school, and her nerve deafness progressed to less than 10% recognition of words in one ear with her digital hearing aids in her 90s. She taught herself to read lips and body language. Later although she also lost her strong voice to vocal cord atrophy, and much of her distance sight to macular degeneration, she maintained communication with reading white board messages and using signs. Always a "card person" from her days of being in charge of the card displays in retail stores, cards and notes sent to her held special meanings for Joyce. She kept some on her shelves and some in her walker seat for safe-keeping. Still reaching out to connect with others, she learned about the lives of her caregivers whenever she could and had special hand signs with several staff members.
Family who predeceased Joyce include: husband Harold Elson Ryder (1927-2006), son Ross David Ryder (1956-1978), son Scott Harold Ryder (1959-1976), mother Eliza Atlanta "Ela" Burt MaGill (1900-1949), father Norman Joseph MaGill (1902-1955), step-mother Iva Mae (Wilson Plamondon MaGill) Blondeau (1903-2008), mother-in-law Beatrice Maude Machell Ryder (1897-1946), father-in-law Harold Roy Ryder (1899-1994), grandmother Charlotte Isabel (Fleming) (1879-1971), grandfather Joseph Gallagher MaGill (1870-1946), her great-grandmother Isabella Gallagher Fleming (1854-1944), brother Oliver Burt MaGill (1929-1993), ex-sister-in-law Joyce Elena (Cady MaGill) Cook (1931-1999), sister Iris Ela MaGill Gardner (1934-2019), brother-in-law Kenneth G. Gardner (1924-2012), brother Norman Joseph MaGill II (1934-2019), sister-in-law Kathleen H. (Fitzpatrick) MaGill (1934-2012), sister-in-law Irma Agnes (Ryder) McGill (1932-2011), brother-in-law and second cousin Robert Burke McGill (1929-2016), step-sister Kathryn (Kay) (Plamondon) Locke (1927-2022), step-brother-in-law William H. Locke (1928-1995), step-sister Priscilla (Plamondon) Locke (1929-2024), and step-brother-in-law Robert G. Locke (1926-2019), and step-sister-in-law Louise G. (Arel) Plamondon (1945-2019).
Joyce is survived by: sister Gloria Isabel MaGill Russell (1926) and husband Edwin O. Russell II (1927) of Malone, NY; brother-in-law Dale Roy Ryder (1932) of McIndoe Falls, VT; step-brother Wilson Plamondon (1942) of Manchester, NH; daughter Jade Elaine Ryder Erhard (1952) and husband Steven Josef Erhard (1943) of Groton, VT; daughter Cathy Ann Ryder Thomas (1954) and husband Larry Louis Thomas (1951) of Monroe, NH; granddaughter Amy Carissa Thomas (1977), partner Jeffrey Thomas Locher (1975) and their son Beckett Thomas Locher (2013) of Seattle, WA; grandson Seth Ryan Thomas (1979), wife Lily Elizabeth Chapin (1981), their daughter Willa Corvid Chapin Thomas (2016), and their son Oliver Beau Chapin Thomas (2021) of Nyack, NY; grandson Todd Morgan Thomas (1981) and husband James Lourenço Araujo (1983) of Seattle, WA; granddaughter Liv Svea Erhard (1988) and wife Jacqueline Shannon Oakes (1989) of Lebanon, NH; grandson Ian, wife Katharina, and their daughters Elise and Anna; foster son Keith Edward Pratt (1963) of Milford, NH; foster daughter Kelly Rae (Pratt) Gibson (1963) of Ocala, FL; Kelly's children, who considered Joyce a grandmother, son Matthew Gibson (1984) of Monroe, NH, daughter Megan Gibson (1986) of St. Johnsbury, VT, daughter Amanda Joy (named for Joyce) (1988) and partner Brad Brion of Cabot, VT, and daughter Sarah Gibson (1989) of Ocala, FL; and unofficial adopted daughter Alene Kristal and husband Stephen Karten of Stuart, FL. In addition to 33 nieces and nephews, numerous extended family and friends will remember Joyce with love.
With gratitude, the family of Joyce A. Ryder thank all the staff at The Morrison Nursing Home in Whitefield, NH, for the care she received and their efforts to ensure that "she lived her best life." Many of the staff went above and beyond to connect with Joyce, share their lives with her, and attend to her wishes as well as her needs.
The family, at their convenience, will inter Joyce's cremains, in a lovely wood container crafted by Irving Lefebvre, next to those of her husband and sons in the Ryder plot of the McIndoe Falls Cemetery.
An informal and fun gathering to celebrate Joyce's life will be held on Saturday, July 25, 2026, at 2:00 p.m., at the old church building in McIndoe Falls, VT. People are encouraged to wear clothing that brings them joy, and to bring music or a story about Joyce to share. We can almost hear Joyce asking her dad, "will you play me a tune on your violin? I feel like dancing!"

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