Joyce Groff

Joyce Alberta Lane Groff

Cherokee, Iowa

Joyce Alberta Lane Groff, 93, of Cherokee, passed away peacefully at Lakes Regional Hospital in Spirit Lake, Iowa, on Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021, with her daughter at her side.

Private family services will be 1 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 2 at Boothby Funeral Home in Cherokee, Iowa. The Rev. Cris Decious will officiate. There will be a family prayer service at 12:45 p.m. at the funeral home on Tuesday. Burial will be in Pleasant Hill Cemetery at Aurelia, Iowa. The service will be livestreamed on the Boothby Funeral Home website with the assistance of Fuller Digital Solutions. Public visitation will be 4 to 7 p.m. Monday at the funeral home; the family will not be present at the visitation. Masks will be required and social distancing will be practiced. Online condolences may be left at www.boothbyfuneral.com.

Joyce was born March 18, 1927, in Newell, Iowa, to James and Wilma (Witzke) Lane. She obtained her formal education at Newell, Iowa, graduating from Newell High School in 1945. Following her graduation from high school, she attended the Electronic School of Business in Omaha. While attending business school in Omaha, she was employed by Father Flanagan's Boys Town to help pay for her education.

After her graduation from business school she went to work for the Illinois Central Railroad, where she met her future husband, Don Groff. He often saw her, as her job description entailed passing train "orders" from the railroad station up to, what turned out to be her future husband, in the locomotive of his train. (We often laughed about her giving him orders, and she did just that, up until the time of Don's passing.)

Don and Joyce were united in marriage on Jan. 6, 1947, in Fort Dodge, Iowa. This union brought forth two children, Barbara Ann and Donald Guy. The family lived in Fort Dodge, until moving to Cherokee, Iowa, in 1951. Joyce was employed by the Cherokee County ASCS office and later was employed by the Cherokee County Assessor's office, where she was employed as Deputy Assessor until her retirement in 1993.

Joyce was a member of St. Paul's United Methodist Church, in Cherokee, where she served as a Sunday school teacher. She volunteered to work with 4-H groups and later worked with both Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, where she became a "mother" to many other children. She was also a member of the Cherokee Business and Professional Women's Foundation until her retirement, and is a current member of the statewide IPERS Improvement Association. Some of Joyce's greatest memories were ballroom dancing, camping, and especially spending time with her family and friends.

Left to cherish her memory are her daughter, Barbara (Bill) Maas of Orleans, Iowa; son, Donald (Rheta) Groff of New Prague, Minn.; three grandchildren, Shane (Brenda) Maas of Clive, Iowa, Kristie (Eric) Schwarz of Waseca, Minn., and Kerrie (John) Oetter of Chaska, Minn.; six great- grandchildren; numerous nieces and nephews and their children; and numerous friends.

She was preceded in death by her father and mother; her husband, Don of 61 years in 2008; three brothers, Howard Lane, James Lane and John Lane; and younger sister, Barbara.

Joyce will be missed, but we celebrate that she has gone to a better place where we must believe in the Christian belief that she and her beloved Don will once more be together again.