Joyce Evelyn Christensen

Joyce Evelyn Neely Beeson Christensen, age 87, loving mother, grandmother (Granny), great-grandmother, aunt, cousin, and friend passed away peacefully at her home in Maitland, Florida, Thursday, June 30, 2022. Joyce is survived by her four children: Lynn Beeson Whitcomb (Tom), Ralph Aubrey Beeson (Lisa), Mary Ann Beeson Leiffer, and James (Jim) Raymond Beeson (Theresa); step-children: Corey Christensen (Karen), Gale Christensen (Terra) and daughter-in-law Patricia Christensen; 19 grandchildren; 22 great-grandchildren; and a number of beloved nieces, nephews, and cousins. Joyce was born on July 18, 1934, in Coolidge, Georgia at the home of her beloved grandparents, Dave and Ethel Crosby. Joyce was born to a military (Army) father and married a military (Air Force) husband and prided herself in having lived in 54 different homes throughout her 87 years in Georgia, North Carolina, Florida, Kansas, South Carolina, Texas, Germany, Japan, Belgium, Illinois, and Oregon. Joyce loved school from kindergarten on and graduated from Thomasville High in 1952. Joyce started her college career at Florida State University where she pledged Chi Omega. Joyce received her Bachelor's degree from the University of Maryland in1968 and Masters from the University of Southern California in 1973, never stepping foot on either campus thanks to military satellite campuses. She worked as a teacher and then for many years at NASA in Florida before retiring. Joyce was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, where she served with the young children, the boy scouts, the young women, and the women in many capacities of leadership and teaching. She served as a missionary in the Oregon Eugene Mission and loved every minute of it. She served in the Orlando Florida Temple for almost 10 years. She traveled extensively, loved crossword and jigsaw puzzles, being at the farm in Coolidge, and vacations at the beach. Her greatest love was her family, immediate and extended. She was a good friend to everyone with the greatest sense of humor. She could make anyone laugh even though she never understood why everyone thought she was so funny. She is preceded in death by her parents, Clarence Calvin Neely and Myrtice Evelyn Crosby Neely, her husbands, Ralph (Sonny) Aubrey Beeson (Ret USAF) and John LaRell Christensen, her brothers, David George Neely and Charles Richard Neely, her cousins that were like sisters, Martha Sue Wilkerson Tews and Sarah Jacqueline (Jackie) Wilkerson Roler, step-son Gary Christensen, and grandsons Seth Aubrey Cassel and Troy Christensen. Visitation will be held from 2:00-3:00 pm on Sunday, July 10, 2022, at Allen & Allen Funeral Home, 110 West Hansell Street, Thomasville, Georgia, with a celebration of life at 3:00 pm. Interment will be in Laurel Hill Cemetery Thomasville immediately following. In addition an afternoon of Stories of Joyce and Desserts will be held from 3:00-5:00 pm Sunday, July 17, 2022, at her daughter Lynn’s home 310 Prestwick Court, Oviedo, Florida.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that you help her legacy of giving continue by giving to someone or some charity in need, because Joyce did so much to bless others throughout her life, often anonymously.