Following is the obituary for JOYCE BEALS NETHERTON, submitted for her family by the Harding Funeral Home.

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Joyce Beals Netherton, of Westport, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, Sept. 1o, 2024, at Norwalk Hospital. She died of natural causes at the age of 86.

She was born Joyce Eleanor on Jan. 28, 1938, in Lexington, Ky., to Wendell and Gratia (Burns) Beals. She had three brothers, Ralph, Philip and David. 

During her time at Henry Clay High School she was a majorette, played violin and graduated as the salutatorian of her class. At the University of Kentucky, she continued to play violin and was an active member of Alpha Xi Delta sorority. She obtained her bachelor’s degree in mathematics in only two and a half years. She met Elliott, her husband of 58 years, when they attended the same class at UK.  

After living primarily in Louisville, Ky., they moved to Westport in 1973 along with their three children, Cynthia, Hank and Paige.

After moving to Westport, Joyce became an avid tennis player, meeting up with fellow enthusiasts several times a week. Once her children were older, she joined the work force as a computer programmer analyst. She worked for various companies including A.C. Nielsen and Dun & Bradstreet, rising quickly to management positions. 

After joining her husband Elliott in retirement, she became even more active in many local organizations, serving in numerous leadership roles. Treasurer was always her favorite position. These organizations included Westport Woman’s Club, League of Women Voters, Medical Reserve Corps and Staples Tuition Grants. As an enthusiastic reader, she was also a devoted supporter of the Westport Library.

Throughout her life, Joyce was well known for her sewing skills, creating clothes for her family as well as household items such as couch slipcovers that still look fantastic 50 years later. She even made her own formal wedding gown. She and her husband enjoyed family trips in their motorhome visiting nearly all 50 states with their children. After retiring, Joyce and Elliott enjoyed traveling with friends to destinations around the world including many countries in Europe, Australia, Costa Rica and the Caribbean, India, China and Russia.

Joyce is survived by daughter Cynthia Lipe and husband Joe of Point Blank, Texas; son Hank and wife Wendy of Woodland Park, Colo.; seven grandchildren, Kelly (Richard) Deleon, Tracy (Dustin) Bowling, Jonathan Lipe, Miranda (Jerek) Bickford, Mallory (Austin) Nuss, Henry (Candis) Netherton and Wyatt Netherton, and 12 great-grandchildren, Lillian and Mason Sarvis, McKenzie, Victoria and Aubrey Deleon, Eleanor, Abigail and Caroline Bowling, Brynley and Emmit Nuss, Conall and Roderick Bickford. She is also survived by her brother David Beals as well as nephews, Jerry, Zack, Blake and Devin Beals and niece Ellen Beals along with their children; nephew Stuart Robertson and niece Julie McDearman and their children. She was predeceased by her husband Elliott, daughter and son-in-law Paige and Tom Totilo, and brothers Ralph and Philip Beals.

Services will be held outside at the memorial garden of Christ & Holy Trinity Church in Westport on Friday, Sept. 27, starting at 11 a.m. Her ashes will be interred in the garden during the service. Friends are invited to join the family in the church hall afterwards for a reception.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in her memory to either the Westport Library or the Westport Woman’s Club.