Mary Joyce (Horton) Waltz, a devoted wife, mother, and grandmother, passed away peacefully on April 4, 2023 at the age of 89 in the memory care unit of Beacon Hill in Lombard, Illinois. She is survived by her husband of 56 years, Alan K. Waltz; daughter Sharon Maxwell and her husband Robert and their two children, Alan (spouse Stephanie) and Kathryn; and son Reid Waltz and his wife Melanie and their two children Sarah and Ethan. Mary Joyce is also survived by two siblings, Brenda Tasker and Larry Horton (spouse Judy) as well as numerous nieces and nephews. She is preceded in death by her parents, Lottie Mae (Reid) and John E. Horton, Sr. and by her siblings: June Workman, Gloria Claiborne, and John E. Horton, Jr.
Mary Joyce was born July 25, 1933 in Columbus, Georgia and graduated from Jordon High School there. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Scarritt College for Christian Workers in Nashville, Tennessee and a Masters of Religious Education from Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois. She was commissioned a Deaconess in the United Methodist Church in 1959 and for a number of years, served as a church and community worker in Arkansas as a part of the ministry of the Women’s Division of the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries.
A private service will be held for Mary Joyce at Park Hill Cemetery in Bloomington, IL in July 2023 where Mary Joyce will be interred. In lieu of flowers, please consider directing donations to The Legacy Fund of United Women in Faith (formerly known as the United Methodist Women)
475 Riverside Drive, Suite 1500, New York, NY 10115: <https://uwfaith.org/give/legacy-fund/?form=legacyfund>