Joyce Hagan Williams
Sunrise February 5, 1932 Sunset December 7, 2021 Joyce Hagan Williams passed away peacefully in her home surrounded by her loving family on December 7, 2021. Joyce lived a long, full, and amazing life just shy of 90 years. For the last 48 years she and her family lived in the Phoenix Metro area. Her acts of kindness, gratitude, and grace touched many.
Born in Louisville, Kentucky on February 5th 1932 to Georgia Bernice and John Warner Hagan, Joyce was the fourth of eleven children. After completing her early education, she graduated as valedictorian in 1950 from Central High School in Louisville, Kentucky.
Joyce answered the call “to serve and protect” her country and joined the United States Air Force in 1951 and completed her service in 1955. While stationed at Andrews Air Force Base, she met and married Clarence “Bill” Williams. Over the years, she raised her three children while serving as a civilian on various military bases in the United States and Europe. In 1967 the family moved to Boston, Massachusetts where Joyce continued her education and received a Bachelor of Arts in Education from Framingham State University.
The family relocated to Phoenix in 1973 where Joyce taught English and Reading, educating young minds in the Phoenix Union High School District. While teaching, she acquired her Master of Arts degree in Education in 1975 at Arizona State University. She also taught at Trevor Brown High School, taught and served as English Department chair at East High School, and taught and coached tennis at South Mountain High School where she retired in 1995.
Joyce was active in her community. She was a founding member of the Black Theater Troupe and a beloved member of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority. In past years, she attended and actively served on the Trustees Ministry Board at First Institutional Baptist Church.
Joyce’s zeal for life was expressed in her love of travel, art, and tennis. Her international travels included trips to Zimbabwe, South Africa, Spain, England, the Netherlands, and Mexico,. She was an accomplished artist in acrylic paint sharing her beautiful paintings with others and she was a formidable opponent on the tennis court.
Joyce is survived by her daughters, Kendra and Linda Williams, her grandchildren Sierra and Quentin Tall who gave her more joy than one would dare to dream, her sisters Jo Ann Kennedy and Nancy Davis (Louisville, Kentucky), Wilma Peterson (Minneapolis, Minnesota) and Barbara Coleman (Dayton, Ohio) and a host of loving nieces and nephews. Joyce was preceded in death by her beloved son, Robert Williams and her former husband Clarence “Bill” Williams.
A celebration of life will be held on January 7, 2022 at 10:00 am, Universal Memorial Center in Phoenix, 7007 S. Central Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85042 In lieu of flowers please consider making a donation to the National Kidney Foundation in honor of Joyce Williams.