Joyce Marie Hill was born in Denver, CO on the 9th of September 1929. A caring, loving daughter, sister and friend. She departed “this vale of tears” to be united with her loving God and Savior on January 23, 2026. Her parents, Floyd Vernon Hill, Sr. and Ena Celeste (Turner) Hill were salt of the earth people with good Christian values who believed in pursuing “the American Dream” and encouraging their children to do the same as best they could. Joyce was the fourth of six children, having older brothers Floyd Jr. and Gordon; an older sister, Carol; and two younger sisters, Muriel and Carmen.
She moved with her family to the small town of Mountain View in Jefferson County in 1937, went to Mountain View Elementary School; Wheat Ridge Junior High School and graduated from Wheat Ridge High School in 1947. She graduated from the University of Denver in 1951 with a BA in English and a minor in Education. She taught in elementary and high schools for 6 years then pursued various other career tracks: in retail sales, clerical-administrative work, church work, and government programs for the remainder of her working life, retiring in 1962.
Always an avid reader, Joyce had an abundance of curiosity about the world, an independent spirit and great love of learning. She was a traveler at heart, working and living in various cities/towns in Colorado, Nebraska, Michigan, and Oklahoma before returning in 2003 to settle in Trinidad.
She leaves behind as a legacy: two published volumes of poems: “Reflections (1993-2000)” and “Expressions (2000-2005)”; and an extended family of numerous nieces and nephews; grand nieces and nephews and great grand nieces and nephews and great, great grand nieces and nephews, the Cobbs, Angell’s, Earls, Friedrichs, Reffel, Kinard-Dennis and Haddox families in CO; the French, Summers and Rezba families in Washington; the Whitbeck’s in Missouri; the Rezba’s in Tennessee, and the Hills, Herendeen’s, Tronecker’s and Parson’s in New York, and the many, many friends she met along her Life’s Journey.
Above all however, she leaves a legacy of living her Catholic Faith to the fullest. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at Holy Trinity Church in Trinidad on April 24, 2026 at 1:00 pm followed by a Celebration of Life reception for family and good friends.
Memorials to Holy Trinity Church and/or Noah’s Ark in Trinidad, or a charity of your choice.
Thomas Murphy
Mullare-Murphy Funeral Home
335 East Main Street, Trinidad, Colorado
