Joyce E Hagen

Joyce E. Hagen , She passed peacefully at home on August 18, 2023, four days before her 97th birthday She was the second daughter of Coral and Ray Esmond, born August 21, 1926 in Estelline, South Dakota. Sisters Delores, Ardyce and Janet grew up with Joyce in a loving, rural home during the Great Depression. Family ties were strong and Joyce shared a special bond with her oldest sister, Delores. Both left South Dakota for business school, sharing an apartment in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They were always ready to try new ventures and wrote home often. Joyce met the love of her life, Richard Hagen, at a wedding when he asked her for a dance. They were married in 1949 and began a family: daughter Vicki (1953) and son David (1955). Opportunities led them eastward from Minnesota to Illinois, Michigan, and finally New Jersey where Joyce planted her last garden. A Cinnaminson resident for good! Besides raising a family, she worked as the purchasing agent in Riverside, NJ, for MacMillan Publishing until 1994. She enjoyed packing a suitcase! Trips took her far and wide, north and south, east and west. She visited all 50 states, much of Europe including London, Paris, Madrid, Lisbon, as well as the Caribbean, Aruba, Cuba, Mexico, Canada and annual reunions to her hometown in Estelline with her sisters, parents, cousins, and friends. Family came first. She encouraged and enabled both Vicki and David to learn new things with lessons and education that would carry them to success, putting their talents into doing what they loved. She was an alto in the St. Matthew’s choir for over 40 years, loved doing luncheons with the OWLS, family dinners, holidays, watching for the credits on the TV screen… not the game, reading a book at the swim club or at the shore in Ocean City, and planting flowers in her garden. Both her children married. Vicki to Mike Seehafer, David and wife Carol gave her four wonderful grandkids: Kyle (Kim), Jack (Hannah), Brett, and Carly (Chris) to spoil with hugs and love as well as cookies, frozen peaches, ice cream and “cold thing (jello salad).” Another generation began as Kyle and Kim gave Joyce two great-grandchildren, Andrea (2020) and Jett (2023) to hug, hold and smile at. Joyce lost both Dick (2006) and David (2019), but she always believed they would be together again. We leave you with a quote from Joyce herself: “A full life has no time limit. Just do your best and make the most of every day.” Always! Memorial service 10:00 am Tuesday, August 29, 2023 at St. Matthew Lutheran Church, 318 Chester Ave. Moorestown, NJ.