Joyce Warlick Spinks

Joyce Warlick Spinks passed away on November 30, 2025 in Chapel Hill, NC at the age of 96. She lived a full life. She was able to enjoy her children and grandchildren as they grew up, graduated from college and married. She thoroughly enjoyed holding and rocking her great-granddaughter.

Born on May 10, 1929, Joyce was the 5th child (of eight children) born to Dorus Hillard Warlick and Eunice Randall Warlick in Kings Mountain, NC. Graduating high school a year early, she attended business school at Kings College in Charlotte receiving an associate’s degree. Always keen in math she calculated her age (rather than reciting it) for the doctor earning her extra points on her mental acuity assessment, but it was her shorthand skills that kept Christmas lists secret from prying children’s eyes.

Strong and independent, Joyce lived in her own home until the age of 90. Her home was full of books and she passed on the love of reading to her children and grandchildren. Joyce’s many friends enjoyed her dry humor, her sweet nature and her optimism. Her children’s friends remember her laugh and the backward clock that hung in her kitchen. She loved a good cup of coffee, a sweet dessert and a visit from family or friends.

Joyce is predeceased by her husband James Edward Spinks Jr, her parents and all of her siblings. She is survived by her daughter, Rebecca S Bullock (Walter Richard Bullock Jr) and son James Eric (Rick) Spinks (Vanessa Blackwood-Spinks), three grandchildren, Daniel McEachern Bullock (Anna Gustaveson), Richard McNeill (Neill) Bullock (Christina Bergemann), and Elizabeth Blackwood Spinks, and one great-grandchild Emilia Lou Bullock.

As a young mother with little children, Joyce was active in Duncan Memorial Methodist Church, volunteered at her children’s schools and with Girl Scouts. Joyce later worked as an Office Manager for Averett and Ledbetter Roofing and Heating, followed by over 20 years preparing taxes at H&R Block, in Charlotte and

in Hillsborough after moving to Chapel Hill in 1997. Many small business owners returned every year for tax help, and she won multiple Charlotte area customer appreciation awards.

The family will hold a celebration of her life at a later date. Joyce believed strongly in home and home ownership, and in helping others. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Habitat for Humanity or The Salvation Army.