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Our mother, Joyce, has gone to heaven to be reunited with the love of her life, Donald F. Green. She will be greatly missed. She was preceded in death by her parents, Daisy Ola Carpentier Whigham and Edward Hawkins Whigham, sister Sylvia Bernice Chance, husband, Donald F. Green and daughter Sylvia Joyce Dorrycott. She is survived by Stepdaughter Donna Green, children David (Anna), Nancy (Russ), Timothy (Gail), James (Tammy), 8 Grandchildren, 9 Great Grandchildren and 3 Great Great Grandchildren. Joyce was born in Mobile Alabama on Palm Sunday at home in the middle of the great depression. Her parents divorced when she was 6 years old, so she spent a lot of her young life living with various relatives, sometimes with her sister, sometimes not. Joyce spent a great deal of time with her Grandmother Carpentier, and while they’re learned to crochet and knit. Her grandmother demanded perfection “If it is worth doing, it is worth doing right!” Joyce attended Murphy High School in Mobile Alabama, graduating in 1947 with honors. She was the only girl in her class to do so. After graduation, she worked as an operator for Southern Bell Telephone Company in Mobile. At the age of 17, she married her first husband Jimmy Dorrycott and had 5 children. They were stationed in various places including Mobile Alabama, England, Limestone Maine, Biloxi Mississippi, and San Antonio Texas. Joyce sold Avon to help the family’s finances, she managed 2 Avon routes. Joyce would sew the children’s clothes, and assisted as Den Mother for the Boy Scout troupes whenever possible. In 1966, she was in a one car accident that left her critically injured. The doctors told the family that she would not live the night, but she did. They then revised the timeline to not surviving the day, the next revision was not surviving the week. She spent 10 weeks in the hospital recovering from her massive injuries and the staph infection she picked up while there. When the doctors told her that she would never walk again without crutches, her response was “Just watch me!” Joyce proved them wrong at every step. It took 7 months, but she not only walked again, without crutches, but also without a cane. Joyce reared her children, worked in her church, and participated in many of the activities in which her children participated - school, scouts, Little League, church, etc. At the age of 40, Joyce realized a lifelong dream when she started college. Once again, she graduated with honors, this time as first in her class of 131. She taught Social Studies at Lackland Jr/Sr. High School, at Lackland AFB in San Antonio, for one semester, then worked for three years in the Texas Legislature as the administrative assistant to a State Representative Don Cartwright while pursuing her Master's Degree, graduating with a perfect 4.0. Joyce graduated from San Antonio College with her AA in December 1972. She graduated from Southwest Texas State in May 1974 with her BA in History and Political Science with Highest Honors. Joyce graduated in May 1976 with her MA in History and Political Science from Southwest Texas State. Her Master’s Thesis in 1976 was “Ashbel Smith and the Abolitionists” In 1977, Joyce and her first husband, Jimmy, were divorced. Her political involvement escalated, leading to her being a candidate for the Texas House of Representatives in 1980. This was also the year she remarried, another career Air Force veteran, Donald Francis Green, who became her strongest supporter. Though defeated for elective office, Joyce became a prominent Democratic campaign consultant during the 1980's - 90's. She was campaign manager or political consultant for a number of winning races, from school board to managing the Bexar County portion of the Texas Attorney General's race in 1990 and 1994. In 1992 Joyce and several friends decided to form a Democratic organization to assist with the election of all Democrats. She is one of the founding members of the Northwest Democrats and was Chair for 10 years of its ongoing 31 year history. She is currently the Chair Emeritus for this organization. Joyce also worked in the DA’s office and lobbied the Legislature. She was also the Director of Special Projects. Joyce has chaired three separate district attorney task forces on juvenile justice, domestic violence, and child abuse. Joyce been honored for her work by many organizations and committees, including the statewide Council on Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention, the Children's Trust Fund of San Antonio, the Bexar County Coalition on Domestic Violence, and the Commission on Juvenile Justice; she has been recognized with the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Bexar County Democratic Party, and in 1984, she was inducted into the San Antonio Women's Hall of Fame. Don worked nights as a security guard, and Joyce worked days teaching. They would travel to the coast to go fishing, Don’s passion. Joyce had several hip surgeries, 1981, the Wagner procedure on her left hip. She was told that her hip socket was so thin, that is was like tissue paper, and if she had stepped too hard on it, her leg would have broken through the hip. In 1986, she again had surgery on her left hip as the Wagner was loose, this time they inserted a rod in her femur with a ball on the end to engage the socket in her hip. In addition to her political activities, Joyce was involved in two other important areas - one in her profession, teaching Political Science at Southwest Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas, the other in the community, chairing a number of task forces on child abuse, family violence and juvenile justice. She served on a number of countywide commissions, lobbied the legislature for 23 family violence/child abuse laws (of which 13 became law), established the Family Violence Unit in the Bexar County District Attorney's Office, and was appointed by Governor Mark White to the Children's Trust Fund of Texas. For her service, Joyce received a number of awards, both local and statewide, including being elected to the San Antonio Women's Hall of Fame in 1984 In 1988 Joyce had to have her Gall Bladder removed, followed closely by 2 back surgeries, in 1993 to release a pinched nerve, and in 2001 to fuse two vertebrae and insert a metal rod to straighten her spine from scoliosis. Joyce continued to teach from a wheelchair or crutches after her first back surgery. Joyce loved teaching so much. She is sensitive to the chalk dust from the chalk used to write on the blackboard. Don bought her a metal chalk holder so that her hand would be farther away from the chalk dust as she taught. From 1996 to 2002, she chaired the largest Democratic group in Bexar County and is active in many political campaigns and in community activities. Joyce has been listed in every edition of "Who's Who in American Politics" since 1984 Since her retirement from Southwest Texas State in 1994, Joyce has combined her teaching and political interests by teaching a number of courses for political candidates, on managing political campaigns and has traveled the State of Texas teaching political organization. Joyce ‘wrote the book’ on how to run political campaigns. On August 23, 2001, she was chosen to be the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Bexar County Democratic Party. Joyce and Don were among the few to be allowed to meet President Bill Clinton when he traveled to San Antonio in 1996. In 1999: Linda Laura Lindsey published an article on Joyce in Great Northwest Passages Joyce and Don enjoyed travelling. They traveled to Alaska, Hawaii, Europe, Florida, London, Ireland and many other destinations. Their favorite traveling companions were Henry and Felicia Morales Joyce had to have Hip replacement surgery again in 2002, seems she wears them out. Then in 2003 she had the metal removed from her spine that was placed there in 2001. Joyce and Don researched the Whigham Genealogy all across the country and into Europe. Joyce led in the establishment of the Whigham Family Association, maintained the records of the Whigham family nationwide, and together with her cousin, Robert E. Whigham, Jr., has compiled and published two books on the Whigham family, "The Whigham Chronicles, Books I and II". Joyce served as the president of the Whigham Family Association from its establishment, published a quarterly newsletter for the Association, and worked with her cousin, Myron Whigham, to continue the biennial reunions begun by James Elliott Whigham in 1999 until her health forced her to slow down. Joyce lost the love of her life when Don Green passed away on April 26, 2008. Joyce would say “I love you Don Green” and his reply was always “I adore you Joyce Dorrycott.” Joyce was honored by the Texas House of Representatives In 2013, HR No. 2633 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 83rd Texas Legislature hereby honor Joyce Dorrycott for her civic and community service and extend to her sincere best wishes for the future. As she started getting older, she had to go from using her cane to using a walker. Her favorite walker for a long time was her ‘tricycle’, given to her by her sister Sylvia. In 2013, Joyce had to have two surgeries (April 30 and May 6) to relieve pressure on her brain from brain bleeds sustained as a result of two different falls, one on the driveway, and one in the dining room where she stumbled over the uneven flooring. The floor was being dried out prior to being replace due to water damage from the leaking ice-maker line. During the April 30th surgery, the surgeon released the pressure and closed her back up. By May 5th, she was having trouble making complete sentences, and was somewhat incoherent. The pressure inside her head had returned and was pushing her brain all the way to the left side of her skull. James and Tammy moved in with Joyce to assist her with her day-to-day needs. She has continued to receive Physical Therapy to maintain her mobility and independence as much as possible. Joyce enjoys supervises the cooking of her favorite meals and the watering of her beloved indoor plants. Joyce’s goal has been to outlive her mother. Her mother, Daisy, passed away March 10, 1993 at the age of 89. Joyce has achieved this goal. Funeral service information: Mission Park Funeral Chapel Cherry Ridge Visitation: Friday December 1st 6-8pm Service: Saturday December 2nd 9-10am Internment at Mission Park Cemetery Dominion immediately following service In lieu of flowers or plants, please consider making a contribution to: Northwest Democrats - Don Green Tree fund, P.O. Box 681911, San Antonio, TX 78268. https://secure.actblue.com/entity/fundraisers/38095

Tributes

Joyce W. Dorrycott

April 13, 1930 - November 25, 2023