Carmelita Reilly Joyce, 95

August 01, 2018

In loving memory of Carmelita Reilly Joyce (1922-2018), a remarkable woman, born in Lancaster, PA, who lived a long and very full life. She passed away in Greensboro, NC on August 1, 2018 at 95. A Funeral Mass of Christian Burial will be held 11 AM, Friday, August 17, at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, 558 W. Walnut Street, Lancaster, PA 17603. Friends will be received prior to the service, from 10:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m., at the church. Burial will follow at Saint Mary’s Cemetery.
Carmel was a loving wife, then mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. She loved the performing arts. She acted, she sang, she danced, she wore bright colors, and she really lived. Most of all, she loved God. A great promoter of her faith, she was a dedicated, standing member of the Legion of Mary, active in Saint Anthony of Padua, Sacred Heart, Saint John Neumann, and Saint Phillip the Apostle Catholic Churches and did the Our Mother of Perpetual Help Novena weekly. In Greensboro, she loved attending Mass at St. Pius X and enjoyed participating in the Greensboro Council of Catholic Women and SPX Senior Luncheons. She regularly attended the Holy Rosary group at her home of Abbotswood. An educator, she also enjoyed teaching students at Sacred Heart and St. Anthony’s Grade Schools and McCaskey High School. Carmel was active as well in the Lancaster County Historical Society, and the history of Hibernia Mansion County Park of Coatesville, PA, the home of her mother. She especially loved children, animals, the great outdoors and a good, clean joke.
Carmel was in the US Navy during WWII. She became an expert swimmer, high diver, and future Life Guard as a result. Her family possessed equally strong dedication to God and country. She and her siblings, Henry, Wallace, Richard, and Bernice, who preceded her in death, all served in the military at the same time, as did her husband, Jack, a Naval aviator. Her oldest son, John, was a Vietnam Army helicopter pilot, and two other sons were in the military, as well as one grandson, US Army Captain Joel Joyce, a three time Iraq War veteran.
Carmel’s extraordinary life and legacy will never be forgotten. She has made a lasting impression as a beautiful and unique woman with a sweet loving spirit and strong faith. Her fun engaging disposition always made her friends wherever she went. Quite fearless, Carmel was prone toward wanderlust and adventure. Her children remember going far and wide with her every summer. They also recall that she was a sweet force with a soft touch, an open hand and heart, and plenty of determination once she made up her mind, who could be quite unconventional at times.
Carmel will be lovingly remembered and missed by her five children, John A. (Jeanine) Joyce Jr. of Greensboro, Henry Joyce of Lebanon, PA, Jill Joyce of Boynton Beach, FL, Thad (Michelle) Joyce of Lancaster, PA, and Joseph (Sheila) Joyce of Lancaster, PA; thirty-one living grandchildren and great grandchildren. She also has numerous loving nieces and nephews. She is preceded in death by her husband, Jack Joyce, in 1997.
Online condolences may be offered at www.haneslineberryfuneralhomes.com