Joyce Johnson Spatz

Joyce was born in Duluth, MN in 1931, where she lived on a farm with her parents and brother. Her mother died in 1942 and her father remarried in 1943. In 1945 her half sister Darlene was born. During World War II, the Navy relocated them to Tacoma, WA, where Joyce grew up.

Dale was born in Arriba, CO in 1925, where he lived on the family farm. After his father passed away in 1933, his mother moved with her five children to Winlock, WA, where Dale grew up. In 1944, Dale joined the 272nd Infantry Regiment of the U.S. Army, where he fought in Europe during World War II.

Dale and Joyce met through her brother, Donald, who was a friend of Dale's. On March 24, 1951, Dale and Joyce were married in Tacoma, WA. Dale went to work for the federal government at Mount Rainer Ordinance Depot. Their son Keith was born in 1953, and daughter Karyn in 1957.

When the government closed the Mount Rainer facility to civilians in 1962, the family moved to Salt Lake City, Utah, where Dale worked at the Tooele Army Depot. In 1968, Dale took a job with the Sacramento Army Depot and moved the family to Sacramento, CA.

In 1971, Joyce went to work as a word processor for the California Employment Development Department. Dale retired from federal service in 1987, and Joyce retired in 1991.

In 1970, Joyce and Dale joined a trailer club, and enjoyed camping with the group once a month at different sites in northern California. After their retirement, they took their fifth wheel trailer and traveled with friends to campgrounds throughout the United States where they enjoyed hiking and nature. They did this for the next 35 years.

When they were at home, they enjoyed time with their family; daughter, son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter.

Dale passed away in 2016 after he and Joyce had been married for 65 years. Joyce has now joined Dale in eternal life.