Joyce McCormick

Joyce (Smith) Parnell Stowers McCormick passed away peacefully August 12, 2018 at Golden Age Living Center in Stover, Missouri at age 89.  She was born September 8, 1928 to Walter and Esther (Cox) Smith of Rose Hill, Kansas, the youngest of five children. A loving mother, wife, and homemaker all her life, she also was a skilled baker, gardener, and expert at many kinds of handwork – including quilting, embroidery, tatting, crochet, etc.

She is survived by four of her six children: Eunice (Parnell) Officer of Stover; Naomi (Parnell) Ullum and her husband, Gary, of Hutchinson, Kansas; Lois (Parnell) Weber and her husband, Martin, of Stover; James Parnell and his wife, Joan, of Halstead, Kansas; and by seven grandchildren, four great grandchildren, and two great great grandchildren – as well as many extended family members.  A widow of three marriages, she was preceded in death by husbands Harold Parnell of Kansas, Amos J. “Buddy” Stowers and Nicky McCormick, both of Oklahoma; and by two children: Earl Dean Parnell of Washington state, and Esther (Parnell) Bookout Goering of Kansas. She was the last surviving member of her birth family, which included siblings Ruberta (Smith) Pitts, Pauline (Smith) Hinshaw, Harold Smith, and Marilyn (Smith) Haines.

A devoted Christian throughout her life, she was born into and raised in the Quaker Friends Church at Rose Hill, Kansas, was an energetic participant in churches and community service wherever she lived, and an endowed member of the Tipton Missouri Branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints at her death.

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