Joyce J. LaVelle

Joyce LaVelle peacefully fell asleep one last time, leaving all of us to be with her soulmate Carl and our Lord in heaven on Thursday, the 23rd of January. 

She was an east Texas country girl, born on May 21, 1933, and the youngest child of Franklin Robert Arrington and Ada Leona Little. Being the baby in the family, and with seventeen siblings, she was nicknamed “Sissy”. 

In her youth Joyce enjoyed sports, particularly basketball, and was a senior high school marching band majorette. She could twirl and throw the baton high in the air, catching it without missing a beat. There are pictures!! 

She left Garrison, Texas and moved to Houston in 1955, where she met, charmed, captivated and married her true love Carl LaVelle on February 25, 1956. “Truth be told”, at first Joyce was dating Carl’s best friend, but it didn’t last long. Carl wasted no time moving in. Having dated for only a month prior to their marriage, they were inseparable until his death on March 18, 2022. 

Together they made three children: Paul who married Terri, Michael who married Kristin and Kristina who married Curtis.

 Their kids made five grandchildren: Kristin, Nikole, Danielle, Carl Vincent and Ashley, and next came four great-grandchildren: Travis, Izabelle, Penelope and Gregory. 

As a working wife and mother, she enjoyed several different careers. Joyce was the executive assistant to a wealthy Houston oil explorer and developer. She worked on State Governmental Affairs for El Paso Natural Gas Company and her last job was working with her husband Carl in their insurance agency. 

Joyce had two favorite places to vacation. The first was Las Vegas, where the casinos wanted their money back. The second place was anywhere with a beautiful beach, where the seagulls flocked around her for the pieces of stale bread she fed them. She and Carl loved the UTEP Miner basketball games. 

She was a beautiful loving wife, tender caring mother, faithful Christian and a strong willed Texas woman who we will all miss, and never forget.

 Her ashes will be buried with Carl’s at the Ft Bliss National Cemetery on Tuesday, February 25th at 11:00am. In lieu of flowers, the family asks you to make a donation to the Tunnels to Tower Foundation (https://t2t.org/) or the Wounded Warrior Project (https://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/).