Twyla Lennon Joyce's Obituary
Twyla was born on April 29, 1935, in Durant, Oklahoma, where she was raised by George and Rubye Lennon. She passed away on May 13, 2019, in Dallas, Texas. An accomplished musician at a young age, Twyla attended Southern Methodist University on a music scholarship in 1953. After her freshman year at SMU, she transferred to Oklahoma University and changed her major to business. Twyla was a member of the Chi Omega sorority. After graduating from OU with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree, she met John Joseph Joyce, and they were married on August 20, 1959. They built a house in Richardson in 1963 and had a son, Jay Joyce, in 1964. An avid sports fan, Twyla and John had season tickets to the Dallas Cowboys’ games starting when the team still played in the Cotton Bowl. Twyla kept busy in the late 1960s and 1970s being a homemaker, going on sightseeing trips with her friends, and as a community volunteer including serving as president of the P.T.A, president of the Richardson Junior League, chairman of the Wadley Whoopee, as a home-room mother, and a member of the Prairie Creek Garden Club and the Chi Omega Alumni Association. In 1981 she assumed control of her husband’s company after his untimely death. Her volunteer work continued as an advisor to the Chi Omega House at SMU where she assumed the role of Head Advisor over time. She left Dallas in the 1990s to become the House Mother for the Kappa Alpha fraternity at OU in Norman, Oklahoma. After serving as the House Mother for seven years, she moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where she volunteered in the flower shop at St. Francis Hospital, taught Sunday school, and prepared pro bono tax returns for low-income families. In 2010 she moved back to Dallas and into the C. C. Young Senior Living Community. She enjoyed the nine years she spent there watching sports, attending musicals and operas, working puzzles, and helping others. Her family is especially grateful for the loving care she received at C. C. Young, especially over the last two years. Twyla is survived by her son Jay Joyce and his husband David Pattillo; her sister-in-law Beth Joyce; niece, Lisa Cameron and her husband Dennis; niece Meg O’Brien and her husband Tom; nephew Alan Joyce and his wife Marilyn; niece Tricia Hockaday; niece Betsy Kinney and her husband Keith; and many, many friends. She is preceded in death by her husband John; her parents; her sister Carolyn Glenn; and her brothers-in-law Nowmen Glenn and George Joyce.A memorial service will be held on Friday, May 31, 2019, at 10:00 a.m. at the Wildwood Chapel at Restland located at 13005 Greenville Ave., Dallas. Contributions in her memory may be made to the Chi Omega Endowed Scholarship at SMU with a check made out to “Chi Omega Education & Charity Fund of Dallas” and mailed to Chi Omega Office, 5952 Royal Lane #270, Dallas, Texas 75230.
What’s your fondest memory of Twyla?
What’s a lesson you learned from Twyla?
Share a story where Twyla's kindness touched your heart.
Describe a day with Twyla you’ll never forget.
How did Twyla make you smile?