Joyce Dempsey

Frances Joyce Dempsey
March 18, 1924 – April 17, 2020

Frances Joyce Copus was born to Edward L. and Sally Mason Copus on March 18, 1924 in San Antonio, Texas and she passed away on April 17, 2020 at Glen Rose Nursing and Rehab in Glen Rose, Texas. Joyce graduated from Bryan Adams High School in Dallas, Texas. She was married to Jesse Felton Dempsey on February 26, 1947 in Cleburne, Texas in a ceremony officiated by Pastor Robert E. Lee Derryberry (unconfirmed name but fitting, if true). Joyce and Felton came home to Glen Rose a decade or so later and Joyce resided in her beloved home on Lakeview Street from October 1967 until the end of her life. Joyce graduated from Aladdin Beauty College in 1973 and she served the citizens of Glen Rose as a beautician until her retirement at the age of 80. She was a long-standing member of First Baptist Church Glen Rose.
Joyce was simply a Glen Rose treasure loved and adored by so many. She never met a stranger and you always walked away from a visit with Joyce with a smile on your face. She loved feeding the hummingbirds, working in her yard, working puzzles, reading, shopping (her favorite was going to see the ladies at the Methodist Thrift Store, which she dubbed Neiman Marcus on the square), and meals with family and friends at Hammond’s, River House, and never forget her burger and blizzard at Dairy Queen. Her family will always have fond memories of time with Joyce with days at Big Rocks, Oakdale, hearing wild and entertaining stories and many other things but always including lots and lots of laughter and fun.
Her witticisms, offered in a soft and soothing southern voice, were extraordinary. It was a good day to head over to Lakeview Street, drink some sweet tea, and swing your leg. You might learn if a fast illness set in that you were in jeopardy of walking the green apple two-step and it could make you nervouser than a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs. Joyce leaves behind many family and friends who are left with a hole in their hearts but also overwhelming joy in the knowledge that she has arrived home with the Lord. Ephesians 2:8 is highlighted in her Bible: For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your doing; it is the gift of God.
Joyce is survived by her children, Joan Carr of Denison, Texas; Perry Edward Dempsey and wife, Bonnie, of Walnut Springs, Texas; and Rebecca Knowles and husband, Richard, of Colleyville, Texas; and grandchildren Sally Southard, Beth Powell, Melissa Jones, Ginger Oldham, Teri Lucas and Kurt Dempsey; and many great-grandchildren, great-great-grandchildren, nieces, nephews and other family and friends. Joyce is preceded in death by her parents; husband, Felton Dempsey; son-in-law, John Carr; brother, T.P. Musgrove; brother, Norman Copus; brother, Gene Copus; sister, Marjorie Welch; and brother, Paul Copus.
A graveside service for her family, officiated by TJ Joyner of Walnut Springs Baptist Church, was held at Post Oak Cemetery on April 22nd.