Margaret Grier

Margaret Joyce England Grier was born April 13, 1925, in Belle Plaine, Iowa, to Otho F. England and Margaret A. (Burnett) England. Her sister was Arlene England Dvorak and her two brothers were Ronald England and Nathan England. Joyce attended school in Belle Plaine where she graduated with the class of 1943. After high school, Joyce spent one and one-half years at St. Luke’s School of Nursing in Cedar Rapids.

It was June 27, 1945, when Joyce married her husband Laverne Bowden Grier, a farmer from Guernsey. It was there that Joyce and Laverne had their three sons. Tim was first on November 10, 1945, followed by Joel on February 24, 1949, and then Ted on August 7, 1955. After leaving the farm, they lived in Ladora, Belle Plaine, Deep River, and finally Montezuma.

Montezuma was where all three of their sons graduated. Joyce worked at the Montezuma State Bank and then spent 20 years as a bookkeeper at Brownell’s Inc., a gunsmith supplier in Montezuma, while Laverne drove a tank wagon for Farm Service.

When it was time to retire, Joyce and Laverne moved to an apartment house in Pella called Prairie Village. They also wintered in Mesa, Arizona, enjoying the beautiful weather.

After Laverne died in 1997, Joyce spent a few more years in Mesa before returning to Pella where she lived at Fair Haven West until January of 2024. She enjoyed playing cards, working on puzzles and walking in the neighborhood. After a fall in her apartment, she had a short stay at The Cottages in Pella where she received a week of hospice care before her death on February 23, 2024.

Also preceding Joyce in death was  her oldest son Timothy Laverne in June of 2023, after a 12-year bout with Parkinson’s disease. He died in Crowsnest Pass, Alberta, Canada, in his house. His ashes reside in the Guernsey, Iowa, Cemetery in the family plot.

Joyce is survived by her sons Joel and Ted and their children and grandchildren. Joel and his wife Jacki’s sons are Brad (Liz) of Norwalk and their children Braden and Maya, and Bret (Alyssa) of Prairie City and their children Kenna and Jase. Son Ted (Lois) and their three children are Jessica (Nick Marino) and their children Dexter and Ever (Chicago); son Jameson (Ashley) of Wellington, Colorado, and their children Scout, Sawyer, and Sailor; and son Jordan of Pella and his children Avery, Eisley, and Evan.

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