Joyce Green Jones was born in Overton, Texas in an oilfield camp on December 3, 1933 to Clarence and Viola Green. She was the second child of five in the Green family with two sisters, Fern and Faye, and two brothers, C.G. “Jabo” and Jim. The family moved to Houston, Texas when she was very young, and Houston is where she called home most of her life.

Joyce was a precocious child, a very quick learner with a great variety of skills and a great desire to better herself. All of the Green children were hard workers, and Joyce was no exception. She excelled in music and English and accounting, and she learned to take shorthand which gave her a head start when applying for the coveted jobs she held.

On April 28, 1956, she married Franklin Jones and began a beautiful love story and life-long partnership. Franklin and Joyce were a God-inspired match, a marriage that thrived more than 50 years. She openly lived her life dedicated to God, her husband, her family and her church. Three children were born to their union, Patti, Brett and Scott.

Patti married Rex Johnson, and they had three daughters. Misty married Damon McNicholas and had two sons, Kaden and Conner. Cassidy married Brad Wilkinson and had one son, Wyndsor, and two daughters, Caroline and Ellory. Kaitlin married Jarron Davis, and had one son, Finley, and two daughters, Lennon and Jennings.

Brett married Gizelle Chrestman, and they had two daughters, Kimber and Carley, and one son, Casey. Kimber had one son, Garner. Casey married Kristine Soto, and they had one daughter, Ella.

Scott married Melanie Palmer and had one son, Spencer, and one daughter, Savannah.

In the early 1960’s the couple accepted the call for Christian ministry and launched into a life of service. Joyce was a driving force behind the success of the Jones family. The young family pastored in Aransas Pass, Texas for two years before moving to Houston to start pastoring a small group of people on Mt. Houston Road in Northeast Houston. Joyce Jones fulfilled countless roles in her partnership with her husband as they steadily and methodically fulfilled the calling on their lives.

The impact of her life is best measured in eternal units. Endowed with a great capacity for love, she endeared herself to thousands of people through her 70 years of faithful service in the Kingdom of God. She truly was gifted to make each person she encountered know how special they were and that they mattered greatly to her.

For the last quarter of her life she was affectionately known as Lady J, a title she earned and loved. The family has often said with a smile, “People put up with us to be close to her.” When she bid farewell to her wonderful husband in 2007, she deposited a piece of her heart beyond the veil and longed for the day she would rejoin her life partner in glory. As the shadows of her life lengthened and her appointment with eternity grew near, the excitement in her heart was palpable and she longed for heaven and home. She plainly told her family, “I am ready to see Frank and Jesus,” and on December 8, 2019, at 3:50 AM, the two she wanted most to see greeted her with open arms into her everlasting reward.

Home.
Perfect ending.
A life lived extraordinarily well.