Joyce D. Myers

Joyce D. Myers died peacefully surrounded by her family on March 8, 2024.

Joyce was born in 1938 in Kalamazoo, MI to Mabel (Peggy) and Maurice Drilling.  She attended Springfield College in Massachusetts where she earned her BS in Physical Education.  Upon graduation in 1960, she accepted a PE teaching position with the San Diego public schools.  In San Diego, she fell in love with Gale Myers, a Navy officer serving on the USS Bauer destroyer escort ship.  They were married in 1962 and relocated to Michigan where Joyce taught PE.  Joyce earned her Master’s Degree in Education (Counselling) at Syracuse University in 1971 and then began her career as a guidance counsellor at East Syracuse Minoa High School where she worked for 15 years.  During this time, Joyce and Gale had two daughters and they designed and built a custom home overlooking Cazenovia Lake.  During a brief relocation to York, PA, Joyce earned her second Master’s Degree in Education (Administration) in 1988 at Shippensburg University.  Upon moving to Chicago in 1990, Joyce and Gale settled in the northwest suburbs where Joyce worked for 10 years in School District 211, as Assistant Principal at Hoffman Estates High School, then as Director of Student Services at Conant High School.

Joyce devoted her professional life to education, from her high school job as swimming instructor at the local country club, to teaching PE in California and Michigan, to guidance counsellor roles in New York and Pennsylvania, to her final school administrator roles in Illinois.  She was a trusted counsellor and role model to countless students.  At every school district where she worked, Joyce was a beloved colleague and friend.  She was an accomplished watercolor painter and was a lifetime member of the Transparent Watercolor Society of America and founded the Cazenovia NY Watercolor Society.   She also enjoyed sailing, spending time with family and friends, and traveling with Gale all over the US in their Chevy Express van.

Joyce is survived by her loving husband of 62 years, two daughters: Lisa (and John) Brockmann and Christine (and Charles) Rowley; six nieces/nephews: Alicia Reban, Milena Thompson (Reban), Suzanne Reynolds (Myers), and Debbie Nyland (Myers), Ray Myers and Donnie Myers; four grandchildren: Lauren and Grant Rowley, and Grace and Eric Brockmann; and twelve grandnieces/nephews.  Joyce is predeceased her two beloved sisters Ann Reban Enos and Retha Jane Woods.