AMHERST, MA: Joyce was born to Ruth and Pierce Waltower, Sr. on July 21, 1943 in Waynesboro, Georgia.  Joyce was the oldest of three children including her brother Pierce, Jr. and sister JoAnn. After completing his military service, Joyce’s father, Pierce Sr., moved his family to Boston, Massachusetts.  Joyce grew up in Boston and  graduated from Jeremiah E. Burke High School.  She went on to attend Boston Teachers College and Boston University where she met the love of her life, Legrand (Lee) Hines, Jr.

Joyce and Lee were married in Boston on April 6, 1968 and spent their honeymoon driving across the US to Laughlin Air Force Base in Del Rio, Texas, where he completed pilot training.  Their oldest daughter, Jennifer, was born in Boston in 1971 while Lee was on leave before deploying to complete his combat tour during the Vietnam War.

After Lee separated from the military, the family moved to Stow, MA.  While there, their second daughter, Leigh, was born in 1975.  In 1976, Lee was transferred to Springfield, and the family established their homestead in Amherst

A true people person, Joyce immersed herself in numerous Amherst/Western MA community organizations.   Over the years she served as a board member of A Better Chance, the Western Massachusetts Girl Scout Council and the League of Women Voters.  She served as co-chair of the Springfield PBS Channel 57 Auction.   Joyce established and became a troop leader for Brownie Troop 153 in South Amherst.  As a member of Wesley United Methodist Church, Joyce held leadership positions as chair of the Staff Parish Relations Committee, and as a member of the Lay Leadership Committee and the Outreach Team.  Additionally, for almost 40 years, Joyce co-chaired the Hospitality Committee.   As a board member for the Martin Luther King Breakfast committee, Joyce co-chaired the meal service committee for numerous years and ultimately received a MLK Jr. Citizen’s Award.

Joyce joined the Greater Springfield Chapter of Links Inc., an international service organization of professional African American women, where she subsequently held leadership and officer positions.

In her professional life, Joyce was store manager at Ward Amidon Jewelers and when it closed, Joyce started her own business, “Accents by JW”, in  Amherst.  Finally, Joyce joined the Amherst Public Schools as an elementary educator, where she served for 17 years until she retired. 

Joyce is survived by her loving husband Lee, her daughter Jennifer Hines and her spouse Renda Mott, her daughter Leigh Swan and her spouse Ken Swan, her brother Pierce Waltower Jr., her sister JoAnn Witt, her nieces Kimberly, Tamara, and Camille, numerous grand nieces and nephews, cousins, and a whole host of loving friends.

Joyce’s life will be celebrated at Wesley United Methodist Church in Hadley, MA on Saturday, December 7^th 2024.  The wake will start at 10am followed by the memorial service at 11am.  Her burial will be private.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Joyce Waltower Hines Memorial Fund at Wesley UMC.

Memorial guestbook at www.douglassfuneral.com