Joyce Center
Decker
Eulogy by
Daughter
Christine
"Chrissie"
Decker
8/22/1924
(D) 9/8/2021
She
didn't beat
Grandma
Moses (whom
she met) in
longevity
but at 97
she survived
most.
Joyce was a
fierce
individual,
an
extraordinary
artist, a
progressive
Democrat, a
champion of
women's
rights,
outspoken
and
stubborn.
She remained
so for
nearly a
century.
She was also
a teacher, a
mother, a
sister, an
aunt, a
grandmother,
a
great-grandmother
and a
stickler for
proper
grammar.
Snap shots
of Joyce
Decker
Growing up
during the
Depression
on a dairy
farm in
Eagle Bridge
where she
had rabbit
for dinner
while her
parents
insisted it
was chicken.
Where she
and her
sister
tossed their
annoying
cousin into
the pig pen.
Illustrations
of fashion
designs in
her diary.
Standing at
the railroad
station in
Eagle Bridge
with one
suitcase
waiting for
the train
that would
deposit her
in Manhattan
where she
would attend
Pratt Art
Institute.
She was 17
and had
never been
there
before.
Married at
18 in
Amarillo,
Texas where
she
illustrated
amputated
body parts
from WWII
injuries for
a hospital.
Becoming a
resident of
Cambridge,
NY. Teaching
art,
returning to
school,
returning to
school
again,
having
babies and
graduating
from
Skidmore
College
while
pregnant.
Founding
Valley
Artisans,
building a
kiln in her
back yard
and living
in Cambridge
for over
fifty years.
Moving to
Florida,
where she
continued to
create
pottery and
other art
and enjoyed
watching
beautiful
sunsets on
the lake
behind her
house.
Joyce Decker
was the kind
of person
you wouldn't
easily
forget and
the world
seems
emptier
without her.
Class of
1942
Red
Rose List
Tributes Index
Joyce's
Personal
Page |