Joyce Paskvan

1925 - 2020

On Sept. 10, 1925, in Stephenson, Michigan, Elmer and Matilda Potter welcomed their sixth child, Joyce Vivian Potter, into the world. Joyce's mother, Matilda Cecilia Nachtway Potter, a high school English and literature teacher in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, was born in Marshfield, Wisconsin, on March 25, 1884. Her architect father, Elmer Francis Potter, born on Aug. 12, 1882, built homes. He also owned and operated the EF Potter Lumber Company, a hardware store and lumber and coal yard, with the help of his indispensable "Tillie." A sign on the wall of the family store read: "We sell everything you need to build and maintain a home." Joyce's five siblings were Catherine (1915), Ruth (1917), Celia (1919), Elmer ("Bud") (1921) and Rose (1923).
Joyce enjoyed ice skating, bicycle riding, and participating in 4H Camps. As a member of the 4H Clothing Club for nine years and the 4H Gardening Club, Joyce often modeled the clothing she sewed at the Upper Peninsula of Michigan 4H Fairs. Once she competed at the Detroit State Fair. Her first place in the place in a food judging contest won her a prize trip to the 4H State Fair in Chicago.
When Joyce was about 5, her dad had a cottage built on the Upper Peninsula shores of Lake Michigan, near Wells State Park. She, her siblings, and many of their children spent happy summer hours at the cabin.
At Stephenson High School, Joyce played violin in orchestra, cornet in the band, sang in the school chorus, and in the choir of the Church of the Precious Blood Catholic Church. She also enjoyed fencing and horseback riding. When the senior class play needed a leading lady, Joyce got the role. Fun, but she never neglected her studies, earning the title of valedictorian of the class of 1943.
Joyce received her Bachelor of Science degree at Michigan State University. After a 12-month dietetic internship at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, she earned her master's degree as a registered dietitian in September 1948.
Joyce's sister, Catherine, taught home economics in Stephenson. When Joyce completed her Master's, she went home for vacation. The high school superintendent told Joyce that the third- and fourth-grade teacher wanted a semester off to vacation in Europe: Would she like to teach 27 third-graders and 20 fourth-graders all in the same room? Yes! Joyce enjoyed teaching that semester and being with family at home.
Joyce served as the head dietician at the American Legion Hospital in Battle Creek, Michigan, a 200-bed facility. After observing for over a year, the hospital manager decided she deserved an assistant. In July 1950, after two years, Joyce asked the hospital manager for a vacation. She traveled to Fairbanks, Alaska, to visit her sisters, Rose and Catherine, married to brothers Mark and Ken Ringstad. Her long journey included a train to Seattle, a ship to Alaska and a train to Fairbanks. On July 15, her life changed forever. Mark Ringstad introduced Joyce to his friend, Tommy Paskvan. They dated every day until she flew to Michigan in September. One night after dinner, in her sister Katie's kitchen, Tommy took out a jade and gold ring and asked Joyce to marry him. Meanwhile, Mr. Owen, the hospital manager at the American Legion Hospital in Battle Creek, telephoned Joyce's mother to ask, "When is Joyce coming back to work?" The phone service to Alaska was not good in those days! When Joyce returned to Stephenson, Joyce wrote to Mr. Owen and told him that her wedding planned for Jan. 27, 1951, and she would not return. The assistant dietitian, Kay Jackson (cousin of Joyce's sister Celia's husband) packed up Joyce's belongings from the room that the hospital room provided, along with board. Kay brought Joyce's belongings to Joyce's sister, Celia. Ultimately, Celia and her husband, Al, who lived in Lansing, brought Joyce's things to Stephenson in time for the wedding and the move to Fairbanks.
After the wedding Mass, Tommy, Joyce and extended family enjoyed a breakfast at a Menominee, Michigan, hotel. The newlyweds drove Columbia ("Collie") Peterson (Tommy's sister) and her daughter Kay Peterson to Tommy's hometown of Aurora, Minnesota. Next, Tommy and Joyce stopped in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, for an overnight visit in the home of her college roommate, Gloria Underwood. They continued on to Texas to visit Tommy's dear friend R. Ohlson, a professor from University of Alaska Fairbanks who had asked him to pick up a car in Minneapolis. After a drive through California, Oregon and Washington, Tommy and Joyce drove the Alaska Highway through Canada and arrived in Fairbanks in the first week of March 1951.
Life with Tommy was wonderful. He was a loving man; the perfect husband for Joyce. They always agreed and did not argue. The next years of 1951 to 1966 were busy with pregnancy, babies and children. When Joyce was expecting her ninth child, Ted, they had a cold winter with weeks of temperatures below minus 40 degrees. Joyce told Tommy they should move to Seattle. They flew down in the spring and found a beautiful brick home on Haller Lake. The home was walking distance to grade school, junior high and high school. They bought a boat. The children could swim! The shore was beautiful! Five days after Ted's birth on Aug. 30, 1966, and his baptism at the hospital, the whole family moved to the city of Seattle. The children enjoyed the schools, new friends, and the city. Still running Tommy's Elbow Room, Tommy flew back and forth to spend a month in each city. In 1967, they bought a Dodge Motorhome in which they made many trips across the United States. This was before seat belts; Ted learned to walk while Joyce stood to cook, assuring that dinner would be ready when the family stopped for the night. The family visited relatives in Minnesota and Michigan, friends Ray and Carole Wallace in St. Louis, Stella and Wally Wallace in Sunnyvale, as well as national parks, museums, car factories, and hydroelectric dams.
Two years later there was talk of oil in Alaska and a pipeline to be built! Tommy said they must move back to Fairbanks so that he could take advantage of the soon-to-be-booming economy by enlarging the building on the empty lot next to Tommy's Elbow Room. The Cabaret and upstairs office space were built. They bought a home on Hilton Avenue. Joyce and Tommy were ready when pipeline workers finished their two weeks on, waiting at the door waiting for the Elbow Room with many dollars to spend. Tommy's Elbow Room provided the family with a good living and opportunities for their family to learn business skills. Tommy enjoyed the working with clients who included many of Fairbanks' leading citizens. Alaska Native organizer Howard Rock worked on the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act at a heavily frequented table in the corner. Beloved niece Rose Potter came to visit and worked at Tommy's Elbow Room with Tommy, Joe and Steve.
In 1993, Tommy's Elbow Room and the Cabaret were sold. In November 1994, son Joe moved out of the duplex he shared with his brother Steve and Steve's wife Susan. He invited Tommy and Joyce to move into the half he had shared with his family. Joyce and Tommy thought it was grand living with two sons and their families and having two other sons (George and Charlie) and their families in Fairbanks. The family stayed close, with daughters Margie and Bonnie and son Frank living in Anchorage, daughter Gloria in Palmer, and son Ted in Texas. George and Cynthia lived with Joyce and Tommy to help care for Tommy during the last two years of his life. The most important part of Joyce's life was her family. What pleased Joyce most was that all of her children were strong, working hard, and happy.
Joyce was preceded in death by her husband, Tommy, her parents, siblings, and grandson, Michael. Joyce is survived by her and Tommy's children Joseph (Barb), Stephen (Susan), Margie, George (Cynthia), Charles, Gloria (Mike), Bonnie (Ron), Frank (Anca), and Ted (Katie); grandchildren, Nicole (Perry), Chelsea (Brandon), Tom (Meg), Ryan; Jason, Adam; David (Jona), Laura; Tammy (Grant), Pamela, Gina (Seth); Michelle, Mark; William, Savannah; Danika, Kendra, Samantha; and Thomas and Tristan; and great-grandchildren: Ryan; Audrey Joyce, Grace; Bryn, Claire; Kalynn, Addison; Maliea, Lavan; Isabella, Haakon; Livia, Skyler, Brooklyn; and Adalyn and Owen.
Words cannot capture how intensely proud we are of all Joyce's accomplishments, and how wonderful Joyce always was as the mother of nine, grandmother, and great grandmother! We will always be awed by her strength, resilience, beauty, generosity, intellect, and kindness.