Joyce Vos Hoezee

Joyce Vos Hoezee was a wonderful woman, as strong as she was sweet, as reliable as she was romantic. She had a beautiful smile, and the cutest of laughs, a laugh filled with the love she shared with everyone around her. More than anything, Joyce was a deeply devoted wife, mother, grandmother and friend, a good woman with a good life, a life we were so blessed to have shared.

Joyce’s story began on a cold winter day in 1920, in the little town of Zeeland, Michigan. Those were times of great change in this country, as Americans began the Roaring 20s by battling a slumping economy, and made the difficult adjustment to the Prohibition era, as well. On January 11, 1920, Walter and Dena Wierenga celebrated the birth of a beautiful baby girl at Zeeland Hospital, a daughter they named Joyce.

Joyce was the baby of three girls in the family’s Zeeland home, joining her big sisters Ruth and Jean. She led a very active childhood in Zeeland, and was very involved in the Reformed Church her family faithfully attended. She enjoyed Vacation Bible School, the Bluebirds, and the Campfire Girls, too.

Joyce faced her share of challenges when she was little, however. When she was a young girl, she developed tonsillitis, and it was a big moment in the family’s life when she had her tonsils out — on the kitchen table! Then, when she was just 11 years old, Joyce went swimming in the old water hole near Zeeland, and contracted Typhoid Fever. She very nearly died, but when she recovered, her once straight-as-a-board hair had now become curly! She kept her wonderfully wavy locks the rest of her days.

Joyce was always a hopeless romantic, and had a crush on every boy her big sisters ever brought home! When she was 16 and a student at Zeeland High School, Joyce had a crush on her friend Cora’s boyfriend, Edward Vos. Ed was a handsome young man, two years her senior, and soon he broke up with Cora. To make her jealous, he asked Joyce on a date, and they soon realized they were in love!

Falling in love with Ed wasn’t the only big event in Joyce’s life that year, however. She also had to have her appendix taken out — her second surgery before she graduated from high school!

Joyce and Ed dated for the next three years, before the happy couple was married. The morning after the wedding, Ed's mother and sister burst into the bedroom while they were sleeping. This became an embarrassing moment that Joyce always remembered.

The newlyweds soon settled in nearby Holland. Joyce worked all the time in Ed's retail store, Reliable Cycle Shop. Ed suffered from crippled feet, so Joyce acted as his feet, and was always his “go-for.” She was a very strong, healthy woman (despite her illness as a child), and wasn’t afraid to climb in and drive the trucks, or get down in the water and help Ed build the docks at the beach, too.

Joyce and Ed were also blessed with four wonderful children over the years, Judith, Kenneth, Donald and Sally, who made their mother so happy and proud. Joyce was an exceptional mother, so loving and supportive, who always put her children’s needs before her own. The family did much together over the years, from swimming and boating in the summertime, to playing cards and games around the kitchen table, to faithfully attending the First Reformed Church every Sunday, where Joyce also taught Sunday School.

Joyce also loved to play pool. She and Ed even added a pool hall in 1975, called the Golden Eight Ball above the store. They renamed the business Reliable Sport & Ski Haus, specializing in game room equipment and downhill, cross country and water skis. Joyce ran the billiards hall and she loved the game. Today, Ken and Don still own and operate the locations, proudly continuing the family tradition that started 75 years ago.

Ed and Joyce loved traveling to Florida every winter, and they even made a trip to Cuba. They spent six weeks in Europe, and even bought a van while they were there to tour the countryside! They also went to Israel, Japan, and various places in the United States, including California.

Wherever she went, Joyce enjoyed adding to her prized collection of china cups, and had a wonderful assortment of cups from all over, which she loved to bring out and show to her company.

Joyce was just as content to be home, however, and enjoyed watching Lawrence Welk on Saturday nights, or old classic movies and musicals. She was an active member of the Topps Club, and a member of Evergreen Commons, too.

Most of all, she loved gathering her whole family together at her home, and doting on her wonderful grandchildren. She was so proud of each of them, and loved to talk about them to others. Family was always most important to Joyce. Even so that she and her daughter Judy were raising children at the same time.

Sadly, Joyce lost her beloved Ed in 1991, after many wonderful years of marriage together. She got through it with her family and her faith, though she wasn’t meant to remain alone forever, however. She met a man named Donald Hoezee, and the two were married in 1997.

Joyce and Don enjoyed some eleven years together, but eventually, Joyce’s health began to fade. She and Don moved to Zeeland, where she would live the rest of her days. Then, on February 28, 2008, Joyce fell and broke her hip. She was admitted to the Zeeland Hospital, where she was born 88 years before. Her health worsened, and she sadly died there on Friday, March 14, 2008, at the age of 88.

Joyce was such a wonderful woman, as strong as she was sweet, as reliable as she was romantic. She had a beautiful smile, and the cutest of laughs, a laugh she filled with so much love for the people around her. Most of all, Joyce was a loving and devoted wife, mother, grandmother and friend, a great lady we were so lucky to have known. She will be greatly missed.

Surviving are her husband, Donald, of Zeeland; children, Judith and Roger Parrott, of Cumming, GA, Kenneth and Joan Vos, of Holland, Donald and Debra Vos, of Holland, Sally and Richard Kibler, of Holland; 9 Grandchildren; 15 Great Grandchildren; 4 Great Great Grandchildren; Step Children, Mick and Pat Hoezee, Tonya and Jack VerStraat, Keith and Marian Hoezee, Judy and Keith Ulber, Cheryl and Greg Roberts, Lynn and Bob DeBoer, Mary and Ron Van Dam; Step Grandchildren, Step Great Grandchildren; Sister, Jean Bond, of Byron Center; many nieces, nephews, and cousins.

Visitation is scheduled for Monday 6-9p.m., at the Mulder Chapel, Dykstra Life Story Funeral Homes, 188 W. 32nd Street.

Funeral services are scheduled for Tuesday, 11:00a.m., at First Reformed Church, Holland. Officiating will be the Rev. Darrell Koopmans. Burial will be in Pilgrim Home Cemetery.

Memorial contributions may be made to Camp Sunshine, or to the First Reformed Church Mission Fund.

Please visit www.lifestorynet.com to sign the guest book, or share a memory or photo of Joyce.