Joyce Grant

Joyce Ann (Beach) Grant, age 90, passed away peacefully on September 11, 2024. She was born on May 5,1934 in Albany, Illinois in her childhood home, to Harry and Bessie Beach. She was raised in Albany, Illinois overlooking the mighty Mississippi river. She graduated from Fulton High School.

She married her soul mate, Richard Grant, on April 3, 1955. Joyce loved to love on people. She was a friend to all the people she met. Joyce was very active in their churches no matter where they moved. Joyce enjoyed gardening, golf and playing cards for many years. She always made time to play games with her friends, children, and grandchildren.

For many years, Joyce worked at Curtis Millwork Company. It is there that she met her husband, Dick. Once married, she became adept at moving and creating a home no matter where they lived. Her time and talents were many, as she would find herself working in interior design, at the Mayo Clinic, or as a church secretary in a few of their churches. Her favorite job was working with Jay Jacobson at Dahlstrom Funeral Home. She and Jay became lifelong friends, and she considered him a son and he considered her a mother.

Her mantra was to be kind, loving and forgiving. To do our best to live as Jesus would live. Her life was a living example of her favorite Bible verse, Ephesians 4:32 – “And be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God also forgave you in Christ.”

Joyce is survived by her husband, Richard Ellsworth Grant, her sisters, Doris Carstensen (Clinton, Iowa) and Vey Klose (Peoria, Illinois); two daughters, Dawn (Steve) Eckley (Des Moines, Iowa), and Amy (Vach) Rau-Kovacs  (Ft. Mill, South Carolina); five grandchildren, David (Anna) Eckley, Jenny (Alvaro) Eckley-Ramirez, Greg Eckley, Jessica (Eduardo) Rau-Vieira, and Ashley (Kendrick) Trapps; one great-grandson; and three great-granddaughters.  Joyce was a loving and devoted mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. All the people in her life she loved and touched deeply - their lives will be forever changed because of her love.

A private service will be held at Grand Living. The family requests that memorials be made to Lutheran Church of Hope in lieu of flowers.

For years, Joyce wore a necklace which was inscribed, “I have called you by name, you are mine.” (Isaiah 43:1. Indeed, God has called her by name.