Betty W. Joye, 78, led recreation programs
March 14, 2024
Betty Wescott Joye of Murrells Inlet died March 4 after a long battle with leukemia. She was 78.
She was born on July 3, 1945, in Honolulu, the daughter of Charles Wescott and Leatrice Tamanaha Wescott. After graduating from Admiral Radford High School, she attended the University of Hawaii in Honolulu and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in recreational leadership.
Following graduation she decided to go to stay with relatives in Tokyo. Her plane ticket routed her via Guam, so she decided to lay over there and visit family friends at the Naval Air Station. Having extended her stay another day, she met her future husband, Jerry. After dinner and a show that night, she gave him her mother’s address so he could write and left the next morning for Tokyo. Her mother forwarded his letters to her, and she began to correspond with him saying, “If you’re ever in Tokyo look me up.”
Two weeks later he did visit. Shortly thereafter, she returned to Guam, and they were married on Christmas Eve 1972. Their son Jerry Jr., known as JJ, was born nine months later.
Mr. Joye had two children from a previous marriage who were living with their mother in California. About a year after JJ’s birth Jerry was notified of their mother’s passing so he brought them to Guam. Betty welcomed them and helped to raise them as her own. When Mr. Joye retired from the Navy, they returned to his home state of South Carolina and settled in Pawleys Island.
Over the years Mrs. Joye used her recreational leadership skills in many ways. She was a certified personal trainer, led classes in aerobics, water aerobics, special water aerobics for arthritic patients, served as recreation director at a major hotel in Myrtle Beach and owners’ clubhouse director for a retirement community in Pawleys Island.
The couple attended All Saints Episcopal Church and were very active in various programs and in the Cursillo movement. Mrs. Joye served on 10 Cursillo weekend retreats, once as the lay rector leading the event. She accompanied Mr. Joye wherever his job took them until he retired in Santa Clarita, Calif. They spent two and a half years working and living in Yellowstone National Park and enjoyed exploring Wyoming, Montana and Idaho. Returning to South Carolina, they became founding members of The Abbey Anglican Church.
In addition to her husband, she is survived by her son Keith (Debbie) of Tabor City, N.C., her daughter Karen of Surfside Beach and her son JJ (Magda) of Sydney, Australia; her grandchildren, Angela Walls (Jim), Kara Bigham (Mike), Ashley Miller (Eric), Victoria Joye and Rheanna Adams, Cassie, Ian and Luke Joye; and her great-grandchildren, Steven and Madison Bigham, Brantley and Tucker Rorie, Ike, Cloe and Jacoby Blanton, William (Olivia), Ryan, Elizabeth and Amelia Walls.
Another grandchild, Christa Blanton, died before her.
At her request, no funeral service will be held. A celebration of her life will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to The Abbey, 46 Gathering Lane, Pawleys Island, SC 29585 (theabbeypawleysisland.com).
