Joyce Bristor

June 16, 1929 – December 4, 2021

Joyce Bristor, 92, of Pompano Beach, Florida, passed away peacefully December 4, 2021. She was born on June 16, 1929 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Charles and Edna Stackhouse. Joyce married Benjamin L. Bristor, a marine who served during World War II in the South Pacific including the assault and capture of Iwo Jima where he witnessed the historical raising of the U.S. flag atop Mount Suribachi. Joyce met Ben when picking him up at the train station after his girlfriend (Joyce's best friend, Jackie) decided to break up with Ben and did not want to meet him at the train station. The rest is history as Ben and Joyce married on June 1, 1946; Jackie was the bride's attendant. Ben passed away peacefully on April 17, 2012.

When Joyce was young, she wanted to be an opera singer.  Under the stage name "Joyce James," she originally sang in nightclubs, but after becoming a born-again Christian she sang a variety of songs as a soloist in church services.

The family took a vacation to Florida in the 1960s.  Neither restaurant roaches at a greasy spoon Florida truck stop nor sleeping overnight in the non-airconditioned station wagon in the Sunshine State heat and humidity could deter the family's love for Florida. Across 20 years Ben and Joyce lived in Ohio, Georgia, Tennessee, and Mississippi before finally retiring to Clearwater, Florida in 1986. Several years later they moved to Boca Raton, then in 1994 settled in a condo next to their daughter in Pompano Beach.

Joyce loved to travel with her husband and in later years with her daughter, enjoying trips to New Zealand, England, Scotland, Wales, Canada, around the United States including Alaska and Hawaii, as well as cruising around the Caribbean and Panama Canal. She also enjoyed meeting celebrities and even attended an Academy Awards party for the movie Lord of the Rings: Return of the King .

Joyce is predeceased by her father, Charles D. Stackhouse; her mother, Edna Shaffer Stackhouse; her sister Dorthea "Dot" Stackhouse Flynn; her stepfather, Warren T. Snyder; and her loving husband of 65 years, Benjamin L. Bristor.  She is survived by her son William Reid Bristor of Melbourne, Florida, and his wife Carol; daughter Valerie Jayne Bristor of Pompano Beach; son John Andrew Bristor of South Florida; 5 grandchildren – Jerry (and wife Christy), Joe (and wife Salina), Jennifer (and husband Jeff), Jessica, & Bobbie Anna; four great-grandchildren – Jeremiah, Micah, Jordan, and Elijah; two step-grandchildren – Nick & Gillian; and nephews.

A gathering of family and friends will be held at Palm Beach National Chapel in Lake Worth, Florida, Tuesday, December 21, 2021. Joyce will be buried next to her husband Ben in the South Florida National (Veterans) Cemetery, and they are now reunited together with our Lord for eternity.

Memorial contributions may be made in Joyce's memory to:

Shriners Hospitals for Children at https://lovetotherescue.org/memorial-gifts/

or

The Humane Society of the United States at https://secured.humanesociety.org/page/83122/donate/1