Joyce Williamson

Joyce Mercedes Ramsland was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota on October 8, 1928 while her Dad was working in the oil fields. Her father passed away before her first birthday. Her mother, Flo, remarried and Joyce's step-father, Smitty, raised her as his own. When Joyce was a toddler the family moved to Peoria, Illinois; where she spent her childhood. In 1938, when Joyce was 10 years old, her parents bought a restaurant in Englewood, Colorado near Sante Fe and Hampden. Their first year they lived in the back of the restaurant while her Mom and Dad built their own home, a cabin court motel, and a trailer park behind the restaurant. They also ran Smith's Service Station, next to the restaurant. At the time Sante Fe was one of the main routes through Denver, which; along with the fried chicken, made their little enterprise very successful. Joyce attended St. Petersburg School in Englewood, Colorado. Her future husband, Charles Williamson, also attended school here and lived just a few blocks away from Joyce. At some point their paths were bound to cross. As Joyce got older, she worked in her folks' restaurant. The attractive young waitress caught Charles' eye and Joyce and Charles started dating. When war broke out, Charles felt bound to enlist as soon as he was old enough, so Joyce and Charles were married before he was sent overseas to Saipan. During their brief time together before Charles reported for duty, Joyce became pregnant with their first child. Charlotte Mae was born on April 26, 1945. While Charles was busy with his Army duties, Joyce helped her parents run their business and raised their daughter. After two years, Charles returned home and the little family moved from Joyce's parents' motor court to a small house on his parents' property. Charles helped his dad with the farming and worked for the railroad while Joyce continued to work for her parents. Their second child, Gary Lee, was born on May 21, 1948. While the kids were growing up, Joyce spent her time as a dedicated wife and mother and Charles continued his education to become a stationary engineer in addition to working two jobs to support his family. When the children were older, Joyce kept busy by working at several different jobs including working as a pharmacy tech, as a lunch lady at Kennedy High School, and as a cashier at the Littleton Elks Lodge. In 1962, Charles joined the Elks, B.P.O.E. Littleton Lodge #1650. Both Charles and Joyce became very active members of the organization and Joyce was a founding member of the Littleton Lady Elks. As Charles went through the chairs, Joyce served in several different offices for the Lady Elks, including President. They had a lot of fun with their friends in the Elks, travelling near and far, and spending many hours volunteering their time. One of their most memorable trips was when they travelled to Germany with the Elks in the late 70's. In 1981, Joyce and Charles joined and became active in the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Joyce served as Ladies Auxiliary President of Post #2461 the same year that Charles served as Commander. Veterans' causes were near and dear to their hearts and they spent countless hours volunteering their time to help Veterans. Joyce and Charles always loved to travel and after Charles retired they took the opportunity to indulge, with Las Vegas and Laughlin, Nevada being a couple of their favorite places. For their 40th anniversary, they went on a once-in-a lifetime trip to Hawaii. Even in later years, when Joyce and Charles slowed down, they had fun going fishing and visiting Blackhawk. After Charles passed away in 2006, Joyce continued to live proudly independently in the same house the couple had purchased in the early 1960's. Joyce enjoyed the friendship of her neighbors, some of whom have been neighbors for over 50 years. Her son and daughter made sure she maintained her independence by assisting her with chores around the house and by helping her get out around town. Joyce is survived by her daughter and son-in-law, Charlotte and Ron Lattin, her son Gary Williamson, her step-son Bill Adolph, her grandchildren Michelle Class (nee Poff), Charles Williamson III, Renee Burge (nee Poff), and Christina Schmidt (nee Williamson), great-grandchildren Tiffany Burge, Ace Williamson, Kyra Burge, Ava Schmidt, and Ella Schmidt, and great-great-grandson Zeke Burge. Joyce was always full of fun, spunk, and youthful exuberance. She always had a genuine smile on her face. If you were her friend, you counted yourself lucky. If you were her family you counted yourself blessed. She will be missed by all who knew and loved her. Most of all, Joyce was one of the best people we will ever know; universally loved, admired and respected.