Joyce L. Schoenfield

1939 - 2023

Rockford, IL - Joyce Louise Schoenfield (Schreiber), 84, passed away on December 8, 2023, in Rockford, IL. Joyce was born to John and Clara Schreiber (Mueller) on February 21, 1939, in Sidney, MT. After finishing the first grade, Joyce's family moved to the small town of Aitkin, Minnesota, where her father had taken a managerial position with the Lampert Lumber Yard chain. Upon graduating from Aitkin High School in 1957, Joyce attended Valparaiso University in Valparaiso, IN, where she studied to become a teacher and was a member of the Delta Chi Epsilon sorority. She graduated from college in 1961 and took her first job teaching first graders in Palatine, IL. A few years later, she moved to Beloit, WI and taught first graders at Royce Elementary School. In her free time, she participated in a bowling league, taught Sunday School, and attended PTA meetings. Joyce met her husband, Raymond Schoenfield, by chance while walking into The One Horse Shay in Palatine, IL. Raymond, a high school English teacher from Beloit, WI, was seated at a table with his friends when Joyce entered the restaurant with a friend who knew one of Raymond's friends and was introduced to "Ray." The couple married on June 27, 1964, in Aitkin, MN. Joyce continued to teach through the 1967-68 school year and transitioned into tutoring as she awaited the birth of her son, Peter, in October 1968. After her daughter, Sarah, was born in 1971, Joyce taught nursery school at the Playhouse Nursery School in Beloit for a few years. In the 1980s, Joyce tutored for the School District of Beloit. She helped Vietnamese refugee students and non-English speaking students learn the English language and worked with elementary and junior high school students who participated in the school district's gifted and talented program. In 1990, Joyce returned to work full-time as a gifted and talented program coordinator for the school district. In 1995, Joyce returned to the classroom for one year and taught eighth-grade math and science. After that, she served as a homebound and elementary school reading tutor for the school district until she retired in 1999. Through the years, Joyce enjoyed making craft items for church bazaars, sewing clothes for Sarah, and baking delicious cookies, bars, and cakes. Joyce also spent numerous hours presiding over the Beloit Memorial High School faculty wives' group, serving as Vice President of the Valparaiso Guild and as a board member of the League of Women Voters, teaching Sunday School at Atonement Lutheran Church, and participating in the church's Ruth Circle, hosting and presenting research papers for Beloit's East End Club, whose purpose is to "Increase Knowledge of Literature, History, and Art and the consideration of the Practical Questions of the Day", and serving her community as a member of the Urban Design Committee, the Community Development Authority, the ad hoc Census Count committee, as a member and chair of the Beloit Planning Commission, and as a member and officer of the Todd School PTA. In 1982, Joyce received the Todd School PTA Volunteer of the Year Award, and in February 1988, she was honored as the Beloit Daily News' "Volunteer of the Month." In 1991, Joyce was one of sixty teachers honored by the Wisconsin Center for Academically Talented Youth for her work with the school district's gifted and talented students. Joyce and her husband, Ray, lived in Beloit until 2001, when they moved to Rockton, IL. They resided in Rockton until their move to Wesley Willows in Rockford, IL, in 2012. The move to Rockford resulted in their joining a new church, Grace Lutheran Church of Loves Park, where the couple met numerous friends. Joyce enjoyed their "Sunday Morning Breakfast Group" that went out for breakfast together after church services and her participation in Mary Martha Circle and the church's "Piecemakers" monthly quilting group. Joyce also enjoyed participating in several voter registration events for the Rockford League of Women Voters and assisting with the Illinois League of Women Voters' Student Mock Election. She also thrived on the challenge and accomplishment provided by creating the Beloit League of Women Voters' monthly newsletter. Joyce enjoyed spending time with her husband, especially their day trips into Chicago, IL, via the Chicago Metra train from Harvard, IL, to visit museums, attend plays, and eat at restaurants. Together, they enjoyed scrabble nights, New Year's Eve dinner party soirees with friends, listening to "The News from Lake Wobegon" narrated by Garrison Keillor, and taking Sunday rides through the rolling hills of southern Wisconsin. Joyce also enjoyed traveling throughout the United States, including their tours of western national parks, the New England coastline, and the Amish, Shaker, and Utopian religious settlements in Indiana. Joyce's "favorite days" were when she got to spend time with her children and grandchildren, whether it was in celebration of a birthday or holiday or a day visit. Joyce also cherished the strong sisterly bond she had with her sisters, Marilyn and Carol. Joyce is survived by her children Peter Schoenfield (Sonia) of Mundelein, IL and Sarah Kallas (George) of Addison, IL; grandchildren Carl Schoenfield, Claire Schoenfield, Hannah Kallas and John Kallas; sisters Marilyn (Victor) Gebauer of Bloomington, MN, Carol (Gary) Hovland of Farmington, MN; and numerous nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents, her brother Richard Schreiber, and her husband Raymond Schoenfield. A Funeral Service for Joyce will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, December 22, 2023, in the Daley Murphy Wisch & Associates Funeral Home and Crematorium, 2355 Cranston Rd., Beloit, WI. Burial will be in East Lawn Cemetery. Visitation of Remembrance will be held from 9:00 a.m. until the time of service Friday in the funeral home. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Beloit League of Women Voters. Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.daleymurphywisch.com