Joyce Schafer Smith's Obituary
On January 21, 2014, Joyce Eileen Schafer Smith, a lifelong resident of Gainesville, went to join her beloved maker in heaven. Joyce was born March 15, 1922, the second daughter of Lottie and Homer Schafer.
Joyce graduated from Gainesville High School in 1940 and went on to attend Riverside Hospital School of Nursing in Jacksonville, graduating as a Registered Nurse in 1943. She worked for the well known and revered Gainesville doctor, W.C. Thomas, Sr., until his death in 1972. She continued on with the practice until her retirement in 1987.
Joyce was a member of District 10 Nurses Association, Junior Women’s Club, Mimosa Garden Circle, Beta Sigma Phi (lifetime member), Circle of Highlands Presbyterian Church and The Gainesville High “Has Beens” Club. She attended Highlands Presbyterian Church in Gainesville until her death.
She was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Harold E. Smith, Sr., her oldest son, Harold E. Smith, Jr. and sister, Vernon Dorothea Reynolds of CT.
She leaves behind to cherish her memory, one son, James “Bud” Smith (Patricia) of Middleburg, FL; one daughter-in-law, Janice Smith-Coman (Steve) of Orange Park, FL and two nieces, Eileen Loprinze and Linda Reynolds, both of CT.
Funeral Services will be held Saturday, January 25, 2014 at 1:00 p.m., in the chapel of WILLIAMS-THOMAS FUNERAL HOME DOWNTOWN, 404 North Main Street, with Rev. Jack Donovan officiating. The family will receive friends one hour prior to the service, beginning at 12:00 p.m. Interment will follow in Evergreen Cemetery, 401 SE 21st Avenue. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made in Joyce’s memory to Haven Hospice, 745 Blanding Blvd., Orange Park, FL 32065 or Highlands Presbyterian Church, 1001 NE 16th Avenue, Gainesville, FL 32601.
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