Joyce E. Piehl

Obituary

Joyce Elaine Piehl was born on June 5, 1934, in Waseca, Minnesota. She was the daughter of Earl and Alma (Wendler) Utzinger. She was baptized as an infant on July 29, 1934, at the Evangelical Church in Waseca and later confirmed in her faith as a youth on April 18, 1948, in Brainerd, Minnesota. She received her education in Brainerd and was a graduate with the Washington High School class of 1952. Joyce attended North Central College in Naperville, Illinois for two years, and Westmar College in LeMars, Iowa for one year.

On August 26, 1955, Joyce was united in marriage to Bill Piehl at the Evangelical United Brethren Church in Hutchinson, Minnesota. This marriage was blessed with four daughters, Cathy, Carol, Connie, and Carla. Bill and Joyce resided and farmed in Hassan Valley Township, Minnesota. They moved to a townhouse in Hutchinson in 1997 and later moved to Rochester, Minnesota in 2014. Bill and Joyce shared 61 years of marriage.

Joyce was a lifelong homemaker and farmer’s wife. Faith, family, and friends were her motto. Her faith was very important to her. Joyce especially cherished the time she spent with her husband, children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and friends. Music was her passion and talent. Joyce was the church organist, pianist, and sang in the choir for 35 years at Bethlehem United Methodist Church in Hutchinson. She also played for many church weddings, funerals, and retirement homes. Joyce was a member of the Hutchinson Community Crow Chorus River Singers for 10 years and Sweet Adelines during the 1970s.

Over the years she was active in various clubs and organizations. For 30 years Joyce delivered meals to people in their homes through Meals on Wheels. She was in the neighborhood Extension Group “Busy Bees” for 30 years, and a member of Gideon International. Joyce taught Sunday School, Release Time classes and was a Church Youth Group leader with Bill. Joyce also enjoyed being a “red hatter” in the Les Flammes Rouges Red Hat Society.

Other hobbies included attending her kids' and grandkids' school events, music concerts, plays, and sporting events, playing different card games and scrabble, having, and going to many garage sales, and daily walks with Bill in the Hutch Mall. Joyce loved to entertain and host family and friends for meals. Bill and Joyce spent 9 winters in Arizona. Joyce made friends wherever she went.

Joyce passed away from cancer on Thursday, October 28, 2021, at Shorewood Senior Campus in Rochester, at the age of 87 years.

Blessed be her memory.

Joyce will be dearly missed by her:
Daughters, Cathy Maguire and her husband Allan,
Carol Porter and her husband, Paul,
Connie Gehrke and her husband Cliff,
Carla Mueting and her husband Tim;
Grandchildren, Angela (Maguire) Jackson and her husband Jesse, Kristy (Maguire) Glynn and her husband, Mike, Daniel Porter and his wife Amy, John Porter and his wife, Charity, Naomi Porter, Benjamin Porter and his wife, Valerie, Jennifer (Johnston) Gilbertson and her husband, Scott, Matthew Johnston, Samuel Mueting and his husband, Cody Dees, and John Mueting and his fiance Jenny;
Great Grandsons, Luke and Leo Jackson, Charlie & Max Glynn, Luke, Isaiah, and James Porter, James Gilbertson;
Brother, Rolly Utzinger;
Many other relatives and friends.

Joyce is preceded in death by her Parents, Earl and Alma Utzinger; Husband, Bill Piehl; Brother, Harold Utzinger.

Joyce wanted to thank all of you, her loved ones, and friends who contributed so much and in so many ways to the fullness of her life. May the good Lord bless and keep you. We would like to extend our gratitude for the Rochester Season’s Hospice Care she received in her Independent Living Apartment at Shorewood.