Obituary of Joyce Eileen Barrett

Joyce Eileen Barrett, a force to be reckoned with at all stages of life, died January 15, 2020, just a couple of weeks shy of her 95th birthday. Viewing will be Thursday, January 23 from 5 to 7 p.m. at Martin Thompson & Son Funeral Home, 6009 Wedgewood Drive, Fort Worth, Texas 76133. Interment will be Friday, January 24 at 11 a.m., at the DFW National Cemetery, 2000 Mountain Creek Parkway, Dallas, Texas 75211. Born in Brownwood, she was a West Texas girl who loved to sing and dance barefoot under the stars. At Lakeview High School, in San Angelo, she met Sam. They married while he was on leave during WWII in 1945 and stayed together nearly seventy years, until his death in 2015. Sam always maintained that the Japanese somehow learned Joyce had become associated with the US military, even as a spouse, and that’s why they surrendered. Who knows? Joyce worked at many jobs, from telephone switchboard operator (the younger folks can Google that) to unlicensed pilot, but she found her passion as an elementary school administrative secretary. Hundreds, maybe even thousands of students, at Leona Doss Elementary School, in Austin, Texas, can attest that, no matter who held the title of Principal, Mrs. Barrett was the boss lady. Kind, compassionate, loving, and devout, Joyce made fast friends wherever she went. When Sam received a posting in Europe, Joyce made sure that her sons developed a respect for varied cultures and a sense of connection to the world by taking them to nearly every country in Europe, and many in the Middle East, even when military security concerns prevented Sam from going along. When she was young, Joyce’s mother started calling her “Miss Lucy". Her sister still does. Sam called her “Girl”. The last words he ever spoke were “I love you, Girl”. But the nickname she liked best was “Grandmama". Survivors: Joyce is survived by her sons, Sam (Linda) and Dan (Debra); her grandchildren, Rory (Erika), Shona (Jon), and Chase; great-grandchildren, Griffon, Natalie, Ian, Luke, and Margaux; her sister, Mary Beth Lawson; nieces, nephews, and multitudes of friends. She loved them all and her life, her God, and her Sam. In what order? She would say, “There is no order to love; there is only love.” A bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck.