Joyce Sylvester

Joyce Lorraine (Christensen) Sylvester, 80, of Fort Peck died Thursday, April 8, 2022.

She was born Oct. 28, 1941, in Hinsdale to Margaret Ann (Renken) Christensen and Julius Oliver Christensen. She joined older brother Darrel Christensen and then two younger sisters, Janice Christensen (St. Claire) and Linda Christensen (Porteen).

As a child, she loved acting, dancing, playing dressing up with her siblings. She also enjoyed making paper dolls out of old catalogs and clothes for her kittens but she said “they didn’t like it very much” and laughed. During her teenage years, she loved singing at the church, teaching Sunday school and playing the baritone at Hinsdale High School.

She married after high school and lived in Glasgow. She had four children, Stacey, Daniel, Margot and Harlin. They tragically died at a very young age.

She felt God had a special calling for her in her life. “I feel the only and most important purpose to my life was to contribute in the best way I could as a friend, wife and especially as a good mother. I believe He taught me, after the loss of my children, that maybe I could help and be there for others who were having troubled times in their lives. I have worked very hard at this.”

She married Sam Sylvester on Nov. 4, 1969, in Glasgow. They had three children, Rockwell Joel Sylvester, Shawn Lear Sylvester and Tara Lynn Sylvester, and Dennis Hanzlik was loved as one of her own.

She enjoyed raising her children and being active at Nashua School being a school cook, sewing uniforms for choir, band and cheerleading and helping with all her children’s multitude of events and activities. She was an active leader in the Lucky Clover 4-H Club and ran the 4-H food booth at the Glasgow Fair for several years. She was a leader in the Nashua Community Club and in the construction of Ol’ Smokey Rodeo grounds in Nashua and the Nashua Winterfest. One of her favorite pastimes was gardening.

She and Sam enjoyed their time traveling the southern part of the U.S. with good friends and meeting new people. She loved spending time with her grandchildren and having them at the family farm.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Sam Sylvester. She is survived by her sons, Rock Sylvester of Highland Village, Texas, Shawn Sylvester of Brookfield, Conn., and Tara Sylvester, Billings; and six grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Thursday, April 14, at Bell Mortuary in Glasgow. A private family inurment will be in Highland Cemetery.