Joyce Elaine Tucker was born in Stockton, California to James Denver “J.D.” Tucker and Fern Arlene (Graham) Tucker. She was considered to be a “miracle” baby as she pulled through to survive even though she was born very prematurely through emergency C-section because her mother, Fern, had suffered from extreme toxemia. Unfortunately, her early birth led her to have health problems, especially with breathing, throughout her life. She eventually had two healthy, younger brothers, Byron and Norman. J.D. was very protective of his little girl and strongly reminded Joyce’s brothers that she was “fragile as glass.” It took a lot of fun out of their early years, but as they grew older, they tried to keep in touch as well as possible as each had growing families of their own which they loved to share.

When Joyce was 8 years old, the family moved to Sacramento. While there, she enjoyed activities and programs such as Camp Fire Girls and 4-H, the latter of which she eventually enrolled her own girls in later in life. In 1963, when Joyce was 14 years old, the family made another move—this time to Eureka, CA. It was here during a junior high summer school drama class that she met the man who would become her husband one day, Hubert Reid. While her brothers did more physical activities for fun and exercise, Joyce was happy to play around on her father’s piano. Music became one of her greatest passions in life, and she was happy to share that gift with others. She even taught her (then) future sister-in-law, Helen Ann Reid, to read music and play the recorder, and Joyce was so proud of her when she too picked up a lifelong love of, and talent with, music. Joyce developed the ability to play many instruments over the course of her life, but her favorites remained the violin, piano, organ, and vocals, and her zest to share the learning and love she felt for music developed over time to encourage her to go to school for a degree in music and in teaching.

After Joyce graduated from Eureka High School, she began dating her once Junior High School sweetheart, Hubert “Bert” Reid, while he was on leave from duty in the US Navy. On July 15, 1972, Hubert and Joyce were married. She continued on her scholastic endeavors and graduated from Humboldt State before she moved to Athens, Greece, where Hubert was stationed at, to begin their life together. Though Bert was sent around the Mediterranean during those early married years from port to port, she waited for him steadfastly, teaching as a substitute teacher at times, and enjoying the chance whenever he was back with her to investigate the culture and environment nearby together—something they did many times over the many places they lived throughout the years.

When Hubert was transferred over to the Naval Air Station at Norfolk, VA, Joyce joined her husband, and soon, they welcomed their first daughter, Elisabeth “Lisa”, into the world at the Portsmouth Naval Hospital in 1977. It wasn’t long before he was transferred again, and this time, Joyce traveled with her little family over to Sicily to live at the NATO bases of Sigonella. Joyce loved traveling around with her family whenever opportunity gave rise, and she loved to take pictures and later tell tales of their time abroad. Joyce decided to go back to Eureka to visit family in 1981 while she was pregnant with their second child, and while she was there, she gave birth to her daughter, Sharon. Soon after Sharon was born, she entrusted Lisa to the care of her grandparents while she took Sharon to Italy with her where Bert and Joyce proudly showed off their strawberry blonde haired daughter for a few months to Italian admirers. When coming back to the US, they picked Lisa up and moved back to Norfolk, VA where Bert was being stationed once again. They bought a family house there and began to set up roots. Their third daughter, Jessica, was born there in 1985.

Living on the East Coast opened up many opportunities for the family life. Together, they enjoyed traveling up and down the coast on regular trips to historical battlefields, homes, museums, and towns. Bert and Joyce wanted their daughters to feel pride for their Scottish heritage and so encouraged them in lessons of Scottish Highland dancing and traveled around to compete in the various Highland Games that took place in the Eastern US. Joyce herself loved to participate in the Highland Fiddling competitions, and she proudly walked with her family in the Parade of the Clans and enjoyed listening to the various Celtic and Scottish bands that would perform at the events.

In October 1988, after 20 years of service, Bert decided to retire from the Navy. Figuring it was time to rejoin their families in Eureka, they sold the family home in Norfolk, and Joyce and the girls moved back to Eureka while Bert did one last cruise before driving over to join the rest of the family. Joyce did a variety of work for a while: she was an associate at Montgomery Ward, she taught at both children’s schools and adult schools for music (and substituted at times for history,) and she also sold Tupperware and Avon for a time. After a while, her parents’ declining health forced Joyce to take a step back from working on her career and became a caregiver for her parents. After her mom passed away in 1999, she did what she could to be a caregiver for her father, as his health had begun to fade fairly quickly, and managed as well as she could with Jessica and Bert’s help. Her father passed away in the end of 2003, and Joyce continued caregiving as she loved to help others, this time helping a good friend, T.R. Wilson, when her husband needed extra help, and caregiving for a few seniors living in the Silvercrest Residence. By the time T.R. passed away, Bert and Joyce both needed to live life for themselves and decided to retire from such hard work.

Joyce was happy to be a part of the All Seasons Orchestra, and she worked hard over the years to get to first chair violin. This gave her the opportunity to meet friends and establish many relationships with other musicians in the area, as well as to have a positive outlet for her talent and love of music. Joyce also spent some time with the Eureka Symphony Orchestra. She became much more involved with the Eureka First United Methodist Church when she became the organist and pianist for services and events. She did that work for most of the remainder of her life, until her personal health issues forced her to retire from that position. She enjoyed being a part of the FUMC Praise Band along with her husband. Together, they also shared in many happy experiences with the Humboldt Redwood Cursillo Movement. Through the church, she found a group of women who formed the “Sisters of the Spirit”. They met fairly regularly, and she loved her “sisters” very much. The FUMC and her Christian faith had been so important to her across her life, and her faith never wavered even unto the end of her days.

Joyce will be remembered by many for her ability to love and forgive unconditionally. She was always so big hearted that it almost seemed a fault. She wanted to be the way she thought the world should be and tried to set an example to others. Caring and compassion came naturally to her, and she was always looking for a way to be able to help others in less fortunate situations. While she taught many students over the years, she knew that not all had a great underlying talent, but she never put anyone down, rather, she always encouraged others to be the best they could be. She was extremely proud of her husband and daughters, and when her grandkids came along, her heart grew along with her family. Her faith helped her bear many a hard burden with grace, and even when she drew close to the end, her everlasting faith held her strong unto her Father’s arms again.

Her loving husband Bert preceded her in death on July 16, 2016 due to Mesothelioma, the day after their 44th wedding anniversary. While she missed and loved him dearly, she tried to honor what she thought he would want her to do and moved into the home they had bought together just shortly before his passing. It was a trying time for her health after his death, but she held strong as long as she could before she too succumbed to breathing complications, hers from COPD. Her brothers were both able to make it up to visit her and spend the last few days of her life with her, and when she passed, her loving daughters, Lisa and Sharon, were by her side along with her grandson, Kieran. Her daughter Jessica had tried to make it to see her in time, but sadly was unable to make it physically there. Due to technology, she was able to be there through video call.

Joyce is survived by daughter Elisabeth “Lisa” McAllister and her husband, Brett, daughter Sharon Reid and her husband, Mikel Purdy, all of Eureka, and daughter Jessica Reid and her partner, Christopher Brown, of Idaho. Also surviving are her grandchildren Ceilidh “Jade” Powers, Kieran Powers, and Keaghan McAllister of Eureka, and Adria Brown of Idaho, and step-grandchildren Jason, Matthew, and Ryan McAllister of Arizona. She is survived by brother, Byron Tucker, and sister-in-law, May Tuan Tucker, of Sacramento, brother, Norman Tucker, sister-in-law, Kathy Tucker, and niece, Stephanie Tucker, of Cerritos, and nephew Preston Tucker of Roseville. Also surviving are her cousin, Karl Graham, his wife, Tammy, and their kids, John and Katy, of Seattle, WA, and numerous other cousins across the US. A joint celebration of life service for Bert and Joyce was held on March 11, 2018.

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The obituary above was submitted on behalf of Joyce’s family. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here.