Joyce Marie Nelsen, daughter of Robert Johnson and Candace Marie Jopekan Johnson, was born April 10, 1949 in Akron, OH, and died July 8, 2021 at her home in Grand Junction after a long and courageous battle with cancer.
Joyce attended Catholic School growing up in Akron, then in Coply, OH. After high school she went on to college where she got her bachelor’s degree in library science. She lived in California for 14 years where she met the love of her life, Carl Franklin Nelsen.
The couple was united in marriage on December 27, 1980, at the Community Church in Long Beach, CA. They were blessed with two daughters, Julie and Tracy. The family moved to Grand Junction, where they made their forever home. Joyce worked at the library in Grand Junction as a library assistant. She also worked at Genesis and the Howard Center in Carroll and, most importantly, as a mother. She loved her family with all of her heart, and it gave her great pride to take care of each and every one of them. She was a loving aunt who was loved by so many.
Joyce liked to go shopping and go gambling at the casinos. She was a member of the St Brigid Catholic Church in Grand Junction.
Joyce is preceded in death by her parents Robert and Candace, her daughter Tracy Gemind, and her brother Kenny Johnson.
She will be deeply missed by her husband of 41 years, Carl Franklin Nelsen; her daughter Julie Flores (Silas) of Phoenix, AZ; her grandsons Johnathon Flores, Taylon Madison, and Nicholas Flores; her aunt Anna Allison of OH; nieces and nephews; other relatives and many friends.
Services were held July 13 at Hastings Funeral Home in Jefferson. Pastor Mark Nelsen of Universal Church of Life offered words of comfort. Honorary bearers were Johnathon Flores, Taylon Madison and Nicholas Flores.
Casket bearers were Braid Strain, Randy Buenting, Scott Deavers, Chris Nelsen, Carl Nelsen and Taylon Madison. Interment was at Lost Grove Township Cemetery in Gowrie.
