Dorothy Joyce House Kelly Gilliam (Joyce) passed away on March 16, 2024. She is survived by her daughter, Cheri Kelly Barker, son, Maston Patrick Kelly, stepdaughter, Dawn Lee Grubbs, and brother, John Luther House. She loved her 5 grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren. She passed away peacefully in the care of grandchildren Tyler and Rachael Barker at their home overlooking Lake Wheeler in North Carolina among the woods she loved so much.

Joyce was born on December 16, 1937 in Conroe, TX, before moving to Houston where she attended Garden Oaks Elementary, joined Girl Scouts, and developed a group of life long friends in Troop 127. She married Maston Frank “Buddy” Kelly on July 28, 1956. In the 1970’s, the family moved to Baton Rouge, LA, where Joyce developed her passion for golf.

In 1979, she married Donald Bruce “Gil” Gilliam in Louisiana. After her first grandson Travis Barker was born, she told Gil to find a home in North Carolina so she could be closer to her grandkids. Living first in Wilmington, they moved to Sanford in 2002 into the Carolina Trace community which she fondly called Camp Grownup, as it reminded her so much of her Girl Scout camping days. She was a branch office manager for Edward Jones in Sanford, retiring in 2007.

After the death of Gil on 1/7/2024, she moved into The Addison of Fuquay-Varina, 15 minutes from Cheri’s home, so they would be close to each other. She will be sorely missed.