Born in Clovis, New Mexico, to Joseph and Isabel Green, Joyce was the second of six children. her older brother James, was developmentally disabled so Joyce was the one who helped her mother look after her brothers and sisters. Her brothers and sisters called her “Sissy.” It was a nickname that stuck throughout her life.
She was a Gilroy High School alumni and on April 28, 1953, she married Bobby Lee O’Neal at the First Assembly of God Church, in Gilroy, CA.
She was the mother of four boys and one girl. But she would have counted the stillborn boy that she carried to full-term that we never got to meet. She would say that she had six children.
Joyce did lots of different kinds of work, including running the Greyhound Bus Depot, here in Gilroy back in the 1950’s. She worked for the Santa Clara County Coroner’s Office in the late 1970’s, caring for the departed. But she spent most of her life taking care of other people when they couldn’t care for themselves. She worked in convalescent hospitals and did in-home nursing care. We are sure that she was greeted by many souls in heaven whom she had comforted in their last days on this earth. Joyce was a servant to others.
She was diagnosed with lung caner in 2000 and underwent surgery that same year. The prognosis seemed good but then the cancer reappeared and a second surgery was performed in 2002. For the next few years, the tests seem to show that she was winning the fight. Then, in 2005, the cancer came back and she went for a third surgery. Last June, Joyce was told that the cancer was back and there would be no more surgeries. If you visited Joyce in these last few months, you know that she was still a servant; even to the end, she never stopped caring for others.
Joyce went to be with Jesus on April 3, 2008. She was at her home in Cameron Park, CA. in the company of family.
She was preceded in death by her son, Warren Lee O’Neal, her father Joseph Edwin Green (Granddad) and her brother, James (Sonny) Green.
She is survived by her mother, Isabal (Carroll) Green, her brothers, Thomas and Edwin Green, her sisters, Norma Jean Terry and Shirley Ann Morehouse, her sons Bobby, Cary and Matthew O’Neal, her daughter, LeAnn O’Neal, fifteen grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held on April 17, 2008 at 2:00 P.M. at the Foothills Foursquare Church at 8335, Church St, in Gilroy.
