Joyce Tressa Mae Dickinson

Joyce Tressa Mae Dickinson of Wilmore, Kentucky joined her Savior, Jesus Christ, on Sunday, November 9th, 2025. She was 86 years old. Joyce is preceded by her husband, Barry, and her parents, Frederick and Anna Mae Heppelein, and her brother Freddie. She is survived by her two children, David (and his wife Connie) and Jennifer (and her husband Byron), and five grandchildren: Jonathan, Aubrianna, Nathanael, Christopher, and Benjamin, and by Connie’s daughter, Ashley and her two daughters.

Joyce was born on March 2, 1939 in Camden, New Jersey. From a young age, she was an avid reader, a trait that brought her joy and comfort. This passion continued throughout her entire life even as she devoured recorded stories when her eyesight began to fail. She passed that joy on to her children and grandchildren.

She attended Elizabethtown College, graduating in 1960 with a degree in elementary education. From there she went on to teach in various public school systems, pouring her own passion for learning into her students. Joyce met Barry in 1961 at a young peoples’ gathering at Echo Lake, PA and they were married on July 21, 1962. After giving birth to David and Jennifer, Joyce dedicated her life and love to serving her family. Barry and Joyce and their family lived most of their life in New Jersey, moving to Alpharetta, GA in 1990, then Sun City Hilton Head in 1998. Finally, they settled in Wilmore, KY in 2006 to be closer to their children and grandchildren.

Joyce loved being creative through writing, from doing sermon research for the pastors at Perimeter Church in Peachtree Corners, GA, to sharing her stories with the Writing Group at Wesley Village. As a theatre minor in college, she was also an avid fan of the stage. She played a role in the founding of Peanut Butter Playhouse in Neshanic Station, NJ, inspiring creativity in the lives of the many children who participated, and directed, acted in, and contributed to various church and community productions.

Joyce’s greatest gift was her gift of hospitality and her deep care and joy in learning the stories of others, a gift that extended beyond the boundaries of her immediate family. Her capacity to love was so deep that she easily adopted others into the family and home, welcoming them as part of her greater family. Being at the Dickinsons meant one would often find themselves sitting with family, old friends, and newly found friends from around the neighborhood and around the world. Joyce was known her entire life for her hospitality, wisdom, joy, and laughter, making life long friends wherever she found herself.