Yvonne Joyce Boom

The longing of Yvonne Joyce Boom to be reunited with her Lord Jesus, her beloved husband and her adored granddaughter Emily, became her much anticipated reality on Thursday, November 27, 2025. She was 88.

Yvonne Joyce Boom (Cornish) was born on April 29, 1937, in Mt. Victory, Kentucky, to Stephen and Arizona Cornish. She entered the world on a cold, rainy night in her grandmother's home - because her mother wanted her first baby to be born with her own mother at her side. This may have been the beginning of what made Joyce so very family oriented.

Her father chose her name with intention. She was named Yvonne after a well-known Canadian quintuplet child, but her father declared she would be called Joyce - the joyful one. And for the rest of her life, she was. All who knew her would remark on her constant smile and sunny disposition.

Joyce spent her earliest years surrounded by her grandmother Florence, great-grandmother, aunts, uncles, and cousins in Mt. Victory. Life was simple, sometimes hard, but filled with love and resilience. She remembered walking to the store for milk at just three or four years old, talking early, and learning fast, quite possibility gifted with a photographic memory. Her brother Charles joined her 2 years later and her sister Florence Elizabeth two years after that. Joyce was fiercely maternal and cared for her siblings' needs very early on. It was said that she treated her siblings like her own babies. By seven she was cooking, washing dishes, stocking shelves, pumping gas, and even scrubbing the family's outhouse - always carrying two buckets of water because she was the oldest and it was expected. In her journals Joyce wrote, "A lot of things may seem bad," she wrote, "but that's how it was for everyone then. We were taught to be happy for what we had and take good care of what we did have."

Back and forth between Michigan, Kentucky, and Ohio, Joyce began school in Sebewa, walking half a mile with the neighborhood children. School came easily to her, as did hard work and responsibility. She grew up in a time when nothing was plentiful, yet she found pride, purpose, and gratitude in the life her family built. She was resilient and always found the good in any circumstance. A trait that never left her.

In 1955, she graduated from Sunfield High School. While there she found friendship in a boy named Bob. They wrote letters while he served in the Navy, and when he came home on leave, their relationship grew into the steady, enduring love that defined their lives. They married in 1960 and spent 56 years together. She wrote, "Bob never tried to change who I was. He always loved me for me."

Joyce and Bob were a team from day one. Their shared goal was simple and beautiful: make each other happy, support each other in their individual endeavors, live a good life together, be the best parents they could - not with money or things, but with love, time, and togetherness. With no savings and little help, they searched for a home after their wedding and eventually found the old farmhouse at M50 and Sunfield Road - rough, worn, and full of work, but solid and theirs. They lived there for 36 years, raising their children, Selena and Eric, repairing what was broken, building what they needed. Joyce primarily stayed home but if a financial need arose, she wouldn't hesitate to go to work and contribute to get past any hardship. But her heart was always at home where she created a safe haven of love and care for her family. She was always mindful of the elderly and always made time to visit with the aging neighbors. She enjoyed babysitting for friends in the neighborhood. She also had a special relationship with her much younger cousins that she felt very maternal to: Wanda, Mike, Chris, Ryan and Marty. As all the children grew up, she found great joy in sales for a home party plan company. She excelled at it and won many awards and wonderful trips. Joyce loved to travel and wouldn't hesitate to veer off the beaten path to see what all there was to see.

In her later years, grandchildren were one of her greatest joys along with their years of retirement. She delighted in their imaginations, their sweetness, their visits for cinnamon toast, BLT sandwiches, milkshakes and malts. She had a very close relationship with her 3 granddaughters. Oh, how the girls adored their grandparents. Bob and Joyce retired in 1992. They spent 6 months a year on Thornapple Lake where they enjoyed the boating, the swans, and hosting parties. They also spent 6 months in

Florida. They were in Punta Gorda, FL for 10 years and Leesburg area for 10 years where they took part in all the social activities, being very active in the retirement community. Joyce also said those years were her happiest. Their children and grandchildren never missed yearly visits to Florida to bridge the divide of time. In 2005, tragedy struck and her granddaughter Emily passed away. The heartbreak was somewhat softened as they welcomed granddaughter Lexi just a week before. Joyce carried her late granddaughter Emily in her heart always. In 2008 and 2011 joy came again in great-grandchildren Rydik and Rowan Wrubel.

She survived a stroke in 2010, worked hard in therapy, and later moved to the Sunfield Apartments in 2013, where she and Bob enjoyed being close to family again. During this time, she started faithfully following MSU Spartan basketball. She loved March Madness. Joyce was emotionally tough, faithful, humble, devoted - especially to her husband. She was kind with an amazing listening ear, spoke truth without judgement and was incredibly selfless to her husband, kids and grands. She had a strong faith and tried to mirror the ways of Christ. She carried a sense of gratitude for the journey she was given. Even after Bob's passing in 2016, she continued to live with courage. In true Joyce fashion, she chose thankfulness saying what a beautiful life and family they created. In one of her journal entries she wrote, "Lots of things in life could have been better, but who couldn't say the same? I am thankful for my life, husband, children, grandchildren, and even that I got to see my great-grandchildren. Great journey. Thanks for everything."

Joyce is preceded in death by her husband Bob and granddaughter Emily Jo Duits.

She is survived by her children, Selena (Jeff) Duits, her son Eric Boom and grandchildren Sarah (Adam) Wrubel and Lexi Boom (Dakota Smith); her great-grandsons Rydik and Rowan Wrubel, her brother Chuck Cornish, her sister Florence Hess; and nephews, Cyle (Dyan) Cornish, Cevin Cornish, Jack Fast and niece Darcy Sleeman. Also, she is survived by her dear cousin who she had a lifelong, close relationship with, Donald Linville, and her treasured friends Margene Sears and Rich and Sue Rolison. She was also blessed with loving caregivers in Nancy Downing and Annie Brandon and the staff at Eaton County Rehabilitation and Health Services.

Per Joyce's wishes, a memorial service will be held in the springtime near her birthday.