Obituary of Joyce Joan Gourley

Joyce Joan Gourley, 87, died Tuesday, December 29, 2020, at Montgomery County Memorial Hospital in Red Oak Iowa. Joyce Joan (Lynam) was born in Adams County on November 7, 1933. She attended school in Nodaway, Iowa. Joyce married Ezra “Dean” Gourley on June 3, 1951. They were married at the United Methodist church in Nodaway Iowa. The union was blessed with four children: Denise, Deborah, Mike, and Diane. Dean and Joyce made their home on a farm near Tenville, Iowa. Joyce graduated from Iowa Western Community College of nursing in May 1974. Upon graduation, she began working at Montgomery County Memorial Hospital in Red Oak, Iowa. She worked 20 years before retiring. After retirement, Joyce enjoyed making woodworking crafts which she sold at local shows. She loved spending time with her grandchildren and family. Joyce is preceded in death by her parents, daughter Debbie O’Grady Bond, her husband of 62 years Dean; three sisters, Wilma Bashaw, Velma Hackett, Muriel Lynam, brothers: Cloyd, James and Kenneth Lynam. She is survived by her children, Denise Ruffing and husband Mike of Carl Junction, MO, Mike Gourley of Creston, IA, and Diane Gnaedinger of Villisca, IA; grandchildren Stacie Kesselring, Gabriel Ruffing, Erica Stortz, Timothy O’Grady, Jess Bond, Austin Gourley, Wesley Gourley, Brittany Gourley, Mackenzie Gnaedinger, Jackson Gnaedinger, Zoe Gnaedinger and 23 great-grandchildren. A private memorial service is scheduled for Joyce on Friday, January 8, 2021, at Wolfe-Billings Funeral Chapel, Villisca, Iowa with a burial at Arlington Cemetery.