Joyce Ann Bedenis, 88 of Dearborn, passed away peacefully at home on July 23, 2022 surrounded by neighbors, family, and friends.

Joyce was the beloved wife of the late James (Jim).

Loving mother of Todd, Timothy (Kay), James (Linda) and Gregory (Anita).

Cherished grandmother of Alex, Rachel, Christine, Katherine, Audrie and Logan.

Dear great-grandmother of Eleanor, June, Faye, Johannes and Iona.

Joyce was a proud life-long Dearborn resident.   She grew up on the east side of Dearborn, attended grade school at Atonement Lutheran Church, and graduated from Dearborn Fordson in 1951.  Joyce was very athletic as a young girl and participated in sandlot and organized sports, although such opportunities for girls were limited at that time. She enjoyed the many family camping trips her father organized "up north", with Ludington State Park being her favorite place for the beach and fishing adventures.  Closer to home, weekends spent at Camp Dearborn were a welcome relief in the summer along with the tasty chicken barbeques.

Following high school, Joyce pursued a career in health care and graduated with an RN from the Nursing Program at Harper Hospital (now part of Detroit Medical Center) as President of the Class of 1954.  After working at several local hospitals, she settled into a long career at Garden City Hospital and followed up by earning a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Madonna University at age 50 with a 4.0 GPA!  Joyce was the Supervising Nurse for the Ambulatory Surgery Unit at Garden City Hospital for over 10 years before retiring in 1993.

Joyce married James (Jim) Bedenis, a Livonia School teacher from Detroit in 1955.  They remained married until his death in 2007. The couple had four children, all boys.  After a short stay in a tiny house in Melvindale, the couple returned to Dearborn to raise their boys in an only a somewhat larger house on Cornell Street in West Dearborn.  Vacations often consisted of cross-country trips with the family of six in a station wagon, towing a pop-up camper, to visit Jim's parents and relatives in California.   When she wasn't working, cooking, cleaning or attending her boys' many sporting events, she would settle down to read a few pages of a long book, usually an historical novel.  Tuesdays during the school year were for bowling.

Atonement Lutheran Church anchored Joyce and her family for all of her life.  She made sure all of the family (including Jim) was ready for Sunday, and especially holiday services.  All of her sons attended the Christian grade school through 6 ^th grade before attending Dearborn Public Schools.  Joyce was also an active participant in the church as: "kitchen lady" for church dinners and lunches, a member of the Lutheran World Relief quilting team, as a Stephen (lay) Minister to others in need, and later as a quiet, but strong church leader.

After the boys left for college and their own life journeys, Joyce was finally freed up to expand her interests.   She was able to read more often, joining a neighborhood book club.  She also learned to golf and played in two summer leagues until just few years ago.  Flower gardening and quilting (often for the church charities) were also her passions, along with an occasional night with Jim and friends at the local harness racetracks.   Jim and Joyce also enjoyed travelling, mostly with friends and family.  This included many excursions across the continental US, but also trips abroad to Costa Rica, England, Scotland, Germany, Greece, Macedonia (Jim's origin) and a trip which traced St. Paul's travels around the eastern Mediterranean.   Their 50 ^th wedding anniversary was celebrated with all their "boys" and their families in memorable week long affair at a large beach house on the outer banks of North Carolina.

In lieu of flowers, those who wish may make memorial contributions to Angela Hospice (734)464-7810 Angela Hospice or Atonement Lutheran Church, Dearborn.