A memorial service for Joyce Bernice Blackburn Hart, 91, will be held on Thursday, May 22, 2025, at 4:00 p.m. at Wilson-Orwosky Funeral Home. A graveside service will be held immediately following at Lake Fork Cemetery.
Mrs. Hart died on May 17, 2025, in Allen. She was born on July 4, 1933, in Madill, Oklahoma.
Mrs. Hart’s family moved several times during her childhood before their final move to Muleshoe, in 1948, where she graduated from Muleshoe High School.
After high school, Mrs. Hart attended the University of Texas, where she studied for 2½ years. On February 14, 1951, Joyce eloped with Edwin “Bob” Robert Hart, who would become her lifelong partner until his death on April 28, 2009. Early in their marriage, while Bob was serving in the army, they lived in Columbus, Georgia.
They were loving parents who instilled in their children the values of faith, hard work and perseverance. Mrs. Hart passed on her deep love for Christ to her family, guiding them by example and praying for them daily.
Wherever Joyce lived, she sought out a church and a Bible study group and she taught Bible studies and Sunday school. In Dallas, she immersed herself in the theological community, attending Bible classes and furthering her education, eventually earning a Bachelor’s degree from Tyndale Theological Seminary in 1991. She also graded papers for prisoners, offering them encouragement and education through prison ministries. She frequently counseled individuals facing hardships and provided comfort and guidance.
Mrs. Hart was preceded in death by her husband; sons, Bob Hart Jr. and Samuel “Sandy” Hart; great-grandson, Andrew Catterton; and daughter-in-law, Julie Hart.
Mrs. Hart is survived by children, Linda Catterton and husband Bill, Denise Smith and husband Mike, Bill Hart and wife Donna, David Hart and wife Tracy, and Jason Hart and wife Cynthia; 26 grandchildren, Candace Hart Melton, Matthew Hart, Kathryn Hart Park, Rebecca Hart, Carrie Hart Jones, Phillip Catterton, Hope Catterton Ellis, Christopher Hart, Michael Hart, Robert Hart, Chelsea Hart, Ryan Smith, Joshua Smith, Cody Smith, Carly Smith Exum, Jodi Hedgcoxe, Jessica Hart, Austin Hart, Savannah Hart, Brittany Hart, Molly Hart, Zachary Hart, Hanna Hart Pearlman, Jacob Hart, Madelyn Hart and Hayden Hart;and twenty-two great-grandchildren.
The family requests that donations be made to a charity of your choice in Joyce’s memory.