Elaine G. Joyce (nee Menozzi)

Elaine G. Joyce, 93, of South Wilmington, IL passed away July 27, 2023 at Morris Hospital.  Born August 7, 1929 in South Wilmington to Romeo (Dick) and Loretta (nee Burla) Menozzi.  She graduated from Gardner- South Wilmington High School and worked in her parents’ grocery store and meat marker as a teen before marrying Michael “Plow” Joyce on September 12, 1948, at St. Lawrence Catholic Church in South Wilmington.  They farmed together in the Kinsman, South Wilmington, and Essex areas.

Elaine was a homemaker and old-fashioned farm wife who could drive a tractor, help care for livestock, bring food to the men in the field, and prepare meals for the crew on corn shelling and hay baling days.  She was an excellent cook who specialized in traditional homemade Italian entrees, pies, coffee cakes and Christmas caramels.  She was friendly, caring, and generous to all she met.  She enjoyed talking on the telephone, visiting with family and friends, and trips to the casinos where she was often very lucky.  She especially enjoyed relating stories of the adventures of raising her five children on the farm.  She was a loving daughter, sister, wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, and her family was always her main interest.

Elaine is survived by her sister Diane Whalen; children, Cathy (Randy) Walton of Decatur, Richard (Cathy) Joyce of Coal City, Mary Waggoner of Morris, David (Brenda) Joyce of Normal, and Carol Massa of Wilmington, Delaware.  Her grandchildren are Colin Kaestner, Dr. Andrea Osborne, Courtney Joyce, Olivia Massa, and Evan Massa.  Her great-grandchildren are Erik and Liam Kaestner and Marina Osborne.  She is also survived by her brother-in-law, John Orth and sister-in-law, Therese Phipps, as well as numerous cousins and other relatives.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Michael in 2018; and her sister, Dorla.

Visitation for Elaine will be at the R.W. Patterson Funeral Home & Crematory, Braidwood, Wednesday, August 2, 2023 from 4-8 p.m.  Family and friends are welcome to meet Thursday, August 3, 2023 at the St. Lawrence Catholic Church in South Wilmington for a Mass of Christian Burial at 10:30 a.m.  Interment will follow in Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery, Elwood, IL.  In lieu of flowers, memorial donations in her name may be directed to the South Wilmington Fire Department, St. Lawrence Catholic Church, or South Wilmington Grade School.

For more information and to visit her online guestbook, please log on to www.rwpattersonfuneralhomes.com.