Joyce Diane Smith

Joyce Diane Smith January 19, 1931 - May 11, 2019 East Wenatchee, Washington Joyce (Munly, Olin, Stevens, Eckersall) Smith (88), passed peacefully in her sleep, at 1:40 a.m. on Saturday, May 11, 2019, in East Wenatchee, WA. She lived with her daughter Sheryl, and son-in-law Carl Arends, the last two years of her life, after the passing of her husband Richard Eckersall in 2017. She enjoyed visits with all six of her daughters, grandchildren & great grandson during the last month. We all loved her so much. Joyce was kind, loving, spirited, creative, funny, silly and always made it a point to be fair to all of her daughters and made sure we all knew we were her priority. She often reminded us to never "lose our silly". She never did. Joyce worked hard to raise her daughters to be strong, independent, loving and honest women. She told us, "You can do anything. All you have to do is put your mind to it and do it." She was born, Joyce Diane Munly, on January 19, 1931, to Dorothy Cash Munly and Leo Munly, at Oakland Memorial Hospital in Oakland, California, where she spent her childhood and graduated from Oakland High School in 1949. Joyce's mother used to take her and her two sisters, Nancy and Patricia, to work in Yosemite National Park, every summer to earn money to pay for school clothes and supplies for the coming school year. Joyce was married in 1949 to Robert Russell Olin, divorced then married James H. Stevens in 1954, divorced and then married George Smith in 1973, divorced then married Richard Eckersall in 1999. She worked hard her whole life. She worked as a grocery checker/cashier and then went through training to be a bank teller. She took night classes and also taught herself bookkeeping and by the time she retired, she was the Finance Director of Bel Air Presbyterian Church in Bel Air, California. Her two real passions were art and her girls. She took various art classes throughout her life and found her "Tribe" when she joined the Twenty-Nine Palms Artists Guild, built her own art studio and was so proud to be on the Open Studio Art Tours. She won several awards for various mediums of Art, with her upbeat funky & eclectic style. One of her other fun life tidbits was that she had gone on a date in high school with Clint Eastwood! She was preceded in death by both of her parents, her two sisters, Nancy and Patricia and 3 of her husbands. Joyce is survived by her 6 daughters: Christina Olin, Sheryl (Olin) Arends, Lauren (Stevens) Hundley, Marcia (Stevens) Aldana, Julie (Stevens) Pesce, Dottie (Stevens) Garza, 15 grandchildren, 9 great grandchildren and several nieces & nephews. Goodbye Momma & Grammy - you will forever be in our hearts. Although you are gone from this earth, you will always be a part of us. We will love you & miss you forever! In May of 2020, a Celebration of Life will be held in 29 Palms, California. For updates on the service information, to leave a condolence or to share a memory, you are invited to view Joyce's online tribute at www.Heritagememorialchapel.com. In lieu of sending flowers, please make a donation in Joyce's name to Wounded Warriors Project at www.woundedwarriorproject.org.