Date of death:
Friday, October 30, 2020
Joyce Estelle Conant Lovejoy, of Concord, passed away on Oct 30, 2020 after a long and courageous battle with Parkinson’s and spinal stenosis. She was born in Concord, Mass on June 28, 1936. She grew up in Littleton, MA, and in 1954, she graduated from Littleton High School. She graduated cum laude from Bates College with a Bachelor of Science and a member of Phi Beta Kappa in 1958. After graduating from college, Joyce took a job as an electrical engineer with EG&G (in the Fenway area of Boston) and she married her life partner Pete Lovejoy. In an adventurous spirit, they moved to Seattle 1959 - she worked as an engineer with Minneapolis Honeywell in Seattle, Washington and Pete as a computer programmer at Boeing.
Then they moved back east and began their family - Elizabeth “Beth” Houghton Lovejoy, our oldest daughter, was born on August 31, 1961 - followed by the birth of Steven Whitcomb Lovejoy, our son, on June 25, 1963, and, on August 24, 1964 - Sarah Patton Lovejoy, our younger daughter, was born. Each child brought blessings, challenges and great joy!
Joyce was immensely talented and worked at a number of different jobs. In 1970, when her husband Pete was a pastor at the Atkinson Congregational Church, she began to work on her master’s degree in education at UNH and she began teaching math at Kingston-Newton Jr. High School. Later on, she took a position as an engineer and computer programmer at AT&T, North Andover, MA.
Once the children had finished their college education, Joyce decided to pursue a lifelong dream of becoming a minister. She graduated cum laude from Andover Newton Theological School with a master’s degree in divinity in 1996. Joyce was ordained into the Christian Ministry at Pembroke N.H. on May 19, 1996. She served as pastor and teacher at Deering Community Church for 6 ½ years, a role she had been preparing all of her life for. After retirement, she continued to serve in the New Hampshire Conference in numerous ways.
Our family salutes her accomplishments and honors her life! “Well done, good and faithful servant! Enter into the joy of the Eternal One!
Joyce is predeceased by her brother Roger who died earlier this year and she is survived by her husband Pete Lovejoy, her daughter Elizabeth and her husband Carll Ladd, and her son, Steven and his wife Suzanne, and her daughter Sarah Grund and her husband Gary, and grandchildren Ryan Ladd and wife Diana and daughter Riley; Kelley, Rachael, and Michelle Ladd. Also by grandchildren Alex Lovejoy and his fiancée, Sarah Boison; Aubrey and Rebecca Lovejoy; Caleigh and Ryan Grund; sister Edna May and husband Al Meserve; nephew Bruce Phillips, niece Tracy England, nieces Deb Conant & Wendy Magnifico.
A memorial service will be held in 2021. Contributions can be made to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research.