Joyce Lee Smith

JOYCE LEE SMITH
September 11, 1945 ˜ December 7, 2024

A mother to many and a friend to all, Joyce’s generous spirit spread joy and love everywhere she went. She had a special gift of caring for others and making connections. She embarrassed her children more than once by talking to pretty much everyone she met, because to Joyce, there were no strangers, only friends waiting to be made. Her gift was love and she filled every corner of her life with as much as she could.

Born to Joyce (Hoots) and Charles Hunt on Sept. 11, 1945, in Nampa, ID, Joyce moved to Oregon as a child and grew up in northeast Portland. She graduated from David Douglas High School in 1963. Also in 1963, Joyce married her childhood sweetheart, Rodney Smith, with whom she spent 61 happy and love-filled years. Joyce was the proud mother of four, including Scott Smith (Sheri), Mark Smith (Meaghan), Amity Young (Tim), and Wendy Smith (Rob Lutz). Joyce was also a second mother to countless children whom she cared for over the years, filling so many people’s childhood memories with love and happiness, it is impossible to count all whose lives she touched.

After retiring from childcare, Joyce still had plenty of love to give, so she began working with students with developmental delays as a staff assistant at Evergreen High School. After leaving Evergreen, Joyce focused the rest of her too few years on loving her family and traveling to new places. No matter how far she traveled, however, her favorite places to visit were the Oregon Coast and Disneyland. Joyce loved Lincoln City, OR, and looked forward to her annual anniversary trips with Rod and her Christmas shopping trips with her daughters. She also loved visiting Disneyland and couldn’t go often enough, though her favorite Disney trips were always with her grandkids. In addition to traveling, Joyce enjoyed going to the movies and lunch dates with her sisters and friends. She loved Christmas and always made it a very special time of the year for her family. But mostly, she enjoyed being surrounded by loved ones, laughing and telling stories, and making sure everyone was taken care of.

Joyce was preceded in death by her parents and leaves behind a loving, but heartbroken family, including her husband and children, her two sisters, Charlene Hunt and Cheryl White, eight grandchildren (Eva, Keegan, Brody, Charlotte, Alex, Sophia, Eleanor, and George), as well as six great-grandchildren.

Joyce’s final days were filled with love, friendship, laughter, and joy and she was full of gratitude for her life and the people in it. Her only regret was having to leave us behind.

There will be a graveside service on Dec. 19, 2024, at 2 p.m. at Evergreen Memorial Gardens. A celebration of life will be scheduled at a later date.
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