Joyce Marie Cawley

1933 - 2025

Joyce Marie (Sevcik) Cawley

Aug 19, 1933 - Oct 31, 2025

Joyce Marie (Sevcik) Cawley passed away at a private care facility in College Station, Texas, on Oct. 31, 2025. She was 92.

From 1974 to 1995, Joyce worked as the front-office receptionist at Bryan High School, where she greeted students, teachers, staff, administrators and visitors across three decades. She was a longtime parishioner of St. Mary's Catholic Church in College Station, where she belonged to the Altar Society. She also participated in the Texas Retired Teachers Association of Brazos County, the American Red Cross of Brazos County, and the Brazos Valley Poultry Club.

Joyce was born Aug. 19, 1933, in St. Paul, Minn., the daughter of John Edward and Leone Marie (Howie) Sevcik. Her paternal grandparents emigrated from Czechoslovakia during the 1900s and owned the West End Bakery in St. Paul for 22 years.

In 1939, at the age of six, Joyce moved with her parents and younger brother, Jack, to Houston, where her father worked as a pipe fitter in the shipyard and her mother as a grocery clerk. Joyce grew up in the Crosstimbers area of Houston, about a block from the home of her future husband, Bill Cawley. At 14, Joyce joined her mother working at Weingarten's Supermarket and later graduated from Incarnate Word Academy. She attended Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, for one semester.

In 1966, Joyce's parents opened Sevcik's Bakery in Rosenberg. Her brother Jack served as a paratrooper with the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division and later retired from the Houston Police Department after 30 years of service. He owned Cactus Jack's Antiques near San Marcos. Her youngest brother, John, was born the same year Joyce married. A lifelong voyager, he still travels throughout Asia and the Pacific Rim, worked on salmon boats in Alaska during the 1980s, and lived in Los Angeles during the city's punk music scene, creating posters for many of the bands. His sketchbooks and artwork are in process for inclusion in the permanent archives of the University of North Texas Willis Library Special Collections, where they will be available for study by students, researchers and visitors.

Joyce married Bill Cawley in 1954 at Annunciation Catholic Church in Houston. Shortly afterward, the couple moved to Bryan, where they made their home for the rest of their lives. After two years in the U.S. Air Force, Bill joined the Texas Agricultural Extension Service at Texas A&M University, where he served for more than 30 years. He earned his doctorate in 1979 and retired in 1988 as both a U.S. Army Reserve full colonel and an Extension Service Poultry Specialist Emeritus. In April 2000, the Texas Poultry Federation awarded Bill its Lifetime Achievement Award for Outstanding and Dedicated Service.

Joyce was preceded in death by her husband, Bill Cawley; her parents; and her brother, Jack Sevcik of New Braunfels. Survivors include her sons, Rusty Cawley (wife Rusty) of Bryan; Ed Cawley (spouse Scott Rieppel) of Xico, Veracruz, Mexico; and Jim Cawley (wife Kerri) of College Station; her brother, John L. Sevcik of Pacific Grove, Calif.; and her sister-in-law, Gena Sevcik of New Braunfels.

She is also survived by six grandchildren: Meredith Cawley (partner Duane Herrick) of Coppell; Lexie Danker (husband Beau) of Elgin, Okla.; Trey Cawley of Bryan; Conner Cawley (wife Brittany) of Lavon; Kit Cawley (wife Olivia) of Richardson; and Kason Cawley of College Station; and two great-grandchildren, Camden Cawley and Cooper Cawley, both of Lavon.

Additional survivors include two nieces, Shelly White (husband David) of New Braunfels and Jennifer Lopez (husband Bobby) of Christiana, Tenn.; and a nephew, Martin Sevcik of Carmel Valley, Calif.

Visitation is scheduled 5-7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 7, at Memorial Funeral Home, 1515 S. College Ave. in Bryan, followed by a rosary. Friends and family will have an opportunity to share their memories of Joyce.

A funeral Mass is set for 10 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 8, at the historical church at St. Mary's Catholic Center, 603 Church Ave. in College Station. Fr. Will Straten will preside. Interment will follow at Bryan City Cemetery, 1111 N. Texas Ave in Bryan.

The family thanks the staffs of Luminous Hospice, Jo's Peaceful Heart, Sodalis Assisted Living, Traditions Home Health and the primary care office of Clint Cheng, MD, for their devotion to Joyce's care over the last 20 years.

Memorials may be made to the Living Faith Society at St. Mary's Catholic Center (aggiecatholic.org) or to the American Red Cross (redcross.org).