- Joyce Arrington Smith passed away peacefully at home with her daughter by her side on Wednesday, the 16th of July 2014. Joyce was born to Ruth Evelyn Ramsay and James Rogers Arrington in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She attended Edison High School in Tulsa and graduated from Spring Branch High School in Houston, after her family moved to Houston with the oil business the summer before her senior year.
Joyce attended Southern Methodist University, where she joined Chi Omega sorority, and graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in education. After graduating, she moved back to Houston to teach first grade at Memorial Drive Elementary. She was then selected to teach with the U.S. Department of Defense in Germany. She taught at American schools in Bad Hersfeld, Wiesbaden, and Munich, and she would often reminisce about the friends she made and the adventures she had during those five years abroad.
After she returned home, Joyce taught kindergarten at Frostwood Elementary while getting her Masters from the University of Houston. She then married James Henry Smith, her loving husband for 20 years. Joyce worked in administration for Houston Independent School District for several years, and after their daughter Jamie was born, she continued working as a wife and mother.
Joyce loved holidays, traveling with her daughter, and playing bridge with her friends. She was very involved as a parent at the Kinkaid School and spent time with her daughter volunteering with National Charity League. She was an active Chi Omega alumna, a member of Houston Panhellenic for many years, and a member of the American Association of University Women. Joyce served in numerous ways at St. Luke's United Methodist Church, and her church family continued to support her throughout her life, particularly after the loss of her husband Jim and throughout her cancer battle.
After her daughter left for college, Joyce started a new career as a bridal consultant. She created "JAS Weddings" and for over a decade enjoyed working with brides and their families. She especially loved planning her own daughter's wedding.
Joyce will always be remembered for her smile, her attention to detail, and her vast collection of holiday decorations. She was a devoted and caring wife, mother, grandmother, sister, and aunt; known as "Tante" to her sister's children and grandchildren and as "Granna" to her grandson James.
For two and a half years, Joyce bravely battled invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC)-a type of breast cancer that represents only 10-15% of all breast cancer diagnoses, though it is the second most common type of breast cancer, affecting approximately 30,000 women each year. ILC is difficult to detect in mammograms and therefore is usually diagnosed when the cancer is more advanced. Joyce's dream was to help establish the world's first ILC clinic that would treat patients, educate the medical community about the disease, and help develop new therapies specifically targeting ILC. She also hoped to find a way to change insurance companies' restrictive rules for allowing breast MRIs (one of the few scans to reliably detect ILC) in the hope of increasing early ILC detection. Joyce was very passionate about her cause, and even during difficult treatments, she continued to work tirelessly to increase ILC awareness. Her family will continue this work in her memory.
She is survived by her daughter, Jamie Smith Luff, son-in-law Martin, and grandson James; sister, Joan Miers; nephew, Jeffrey Miers, his wife Amy, and their children Sloan, Brooke, and Blake; niece, Stacy Rider, her husband Tim, and their son Turner; aunt, Edith Reid, and her husband Richard; cousin, Gretchen Schulz, her husband Steve, and their children Shelby and Sean; cousin, Philip Reid, and his son Jake; cousin, David Reid, and his wife Tracey; sister-in-law, Betsy Winn, and her husband Jim; niece, Anne Runge, her husband Tom, and their sons Lou and James; niece, Carolyn Breslin, her husband Pat, and their daughter Melanie; brother-in-law, Bert Smith, and his wife Joanne; niece, Donna Smith; nephew, Chip Smith, and his wife Elena; and many other members of her extended family.
Joyce's family would like to thank Dr. Jennifer Litton and the medical team at M.D. Anderson, the amazing group at M.D. Anderson's Integrative Medicine Center, Houston Hospice, Luisa Ortiz, and all of her wonderful friends for their support and care.
A memorial service is to be conducted at two o'clock in the afternoon on Saturday, the 26th of July, in the Jasek Chapel of Geo. H. Lewis & Sons, 1010 Bering Drive in Houston, where Dr. Linda Christians, Executive Pastor of St. Luke's United Methodist Church, is to officiate. Immediately following the service, all are invited to join the family for a reception in the adjacent grand foyer.
Prior to the service, the family will gather for a private interment at Memorial Oaks Cemetery in Houston.
In lieu of customary remembrances, contributions in Joyce's memory may be directed to St. Luke's United Methodist Church, P.O. Box 22013, Houston, TX, 77227; or to M.D. Anderson Cancer Center - Integrative Medicine Center, Attention: Sanober Ajani, 1515 Holcombe Boulevard, Unit 16, Houston, TX, 77030 (please reference the Joyce Arrington Smith Memorial Fund).
Published in Houston Chronicle from July 20 to July 23, 2014
|
1943 - 2014 (Age 71) 
Submit Photo / Document
Set As Default Person 
1916 - 2009 (Age 93)
[1]