Wilma Joyce Mills

Mrs. Joyce Williams Mills, 87, a resident of Brantley, Alabama, passed away peacefully at Baptist Medical Center South on Friday, June 2nd, 2023 while surrounded by her family. Funeral services for Joyce will be held at 2 PM on Monday, June 5th, at her home congregation of Mt. Zion Baptist Church with Rev. Jim Tate and Rev. Mark Perry officiating. Interment will follow in the church cemetery with Turners Funeral Home of Luverne directing. The family will receive friends at the church on Monday for one hour prior to the service.

Joyce spent many years in the clerical pool at the United States Army Safety Center at Ft. Rucker until her retirement, and she was well known around her beloved Brantley as she also worked for the City Clerk's Office, the Post Office, Housing Authority, and Steed & Hollis Pulpwood & Timber over the years. Even in her retirement, Joyce was determined not to spend her time idly. In Luverne, she was best known for all the help she rendered those searching for beautiful home decor or just the right gift at Kate's Kountry. There are likely few families in town that didn't receive one of those beautifully-wrapped presents to mark a memorable event or special occasion thanks to her generous advice.

However, there was no job Joyce held more dearly to her heart than that of mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. Her door was always open to those she loved, whether they be blood related or family of the heart. You definitely never left her home hungry because she would make sure you had plenty of some of the best cooking you would ever have when you visited her. She loved to prepare savory dishes and scrumptious desserts for every church fellowship she shared with her family at Mt. Zion Baptist. Her red velvet cake was guaranteed to make anyone's day. She also gave of her time and skills to the church as she served as their bookkeeper for many, many years. Joyce was the quintessential Southern lady: full of charm and grace, as well as a little bit of sass just to keep everyone in line. Besides her gift with cooking, she enjoyed sewing when she was younger, as well as tending to her bountiful garden, and, in what little time she rested, she could be found snuggled up with a good book. Joyce was blessed with a long and full lifetime, though not without hardships along the way, but she leaves behind a treasure trove of cherished memories for all those who knew and loved her.

Joyce was preceded in death by her son, Timothy Earl Mack; parents, Brazil & Ethel Catrett Williams; and brother, Willie Roy Williams. She is survived by her daughter, Lynne Mack (Jerry Armstrong); grandchildren, Sarah Marie Mack and Charlie Morgan Mack; and great-grandchildren, Lawson Warrick, Jayden Mack, and Paisley Mack.

Active pallbearers will be Tim Folmar, Andy Kimbro, Chris Layton, Kent Folmar, David Lowery, and Ashley Kilcrease.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial donations be donated to a cause near and dear to Joyce's heart, the Mt. Zion Baptist Church Building Fund, for their new sanctuary.