September 11, 1924 - March 13, 2024
It is with deep sorrow and much love that we mourn the passing of Joyce Pierucci, of Stockton, CA on March 13, 2024, at the age of 99 ½ years.
She will be lovingly remembered by her children Ronald, Robert Jr. (Candice), and Sue Ellen (Donald). Her grandchildren Jonathan Hause, David (Kristen) Adams, Karen (Scott) Franklin, Andy (Candice) Pierucci, and Tony Pierucci (Jon Durham). Great grandchildren, Clara, Louisa and Emmett Adams, Emmeline, and Abel Franklin, Benji and Quincy Pierucci.
Joyce was predeceased by her husband of 55 years, Robert, daughter Janice Hause, her parents Oscar and Ivy Moses, also her four brothers and two sisters.
Joyce was raised on a farm in Texas and was pulling cotton and doing farm chores at the age of eight. She always talked about her life growing up and the demanding work on the farm.
She met her handsome husband during WWII when he was stationed in Texas with the Army Air Corps. They were married in Cameron, Texas just four days after VE Day in 1945. Shortly after the wedding she and Bob took the train to Bob’s hometown, Stockton, California to start a new life. She had a rough start, moving from a life she had known for twenty years to a new family that were 100% Italian and she was of England and Northwestern European decent. She did not realize the culture shock she would experience. As time went on everyone grew to love her and her sweet disposition.
She was a voracious reader and loved to share books she read with others. Later in their marriage Joyce and Bob lived and spent much time in Shoshone and the Death Valley area, as a result of that, Joyce also loved collecting all the different things the desert provided, often sending her grandchildren rocks, dead scorpions or tarantulas, and the rattles of snakes they had to kill. She sent pictures of wildlife in the area like chukars and kangaroo rats and treasures they would find like bottles and feathers of the different birds in Death Valley.
We will always remember her funny phrases from her childhood in Arkansas and Texas. She would often say “Well that’s a pregnant idea” which meant a big idea. We often laughed at her many other sayings. Her sons remember her telling them they could earn a Yankee dime, of course the thought money, but it was a kiss instead.
A private graveside service will be held at the family’s request.
We could not have asked for a better mother, grandmother, and mother-in-law and will miss her dearly. Her memory will live on in the hearts of all those who loved her
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Cherokee Memorial is honored to serve the Pierucci family.
