Obituary of Joyce Delores Longfield

Joyce Delores Longfield passed away on August 28th, 2024, at the age of 91, in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

On February 27, 1933, in the small town of Sun Prairie Wisconsin, the township of Bristol, Joyce was born to Leo Hoppe (farmer) and Mable Hoppe (stay-at-home mom & housekeeper) and grew up there.

On June 4th, 1933, at the age of 4 months, Joyce was baptized in the name of the Father, the Son & the Holy Spirit, at Spring Prairie Lutherville Church,

In her high school years, she had worked at a root beer stand, just a couple of doors away from her home. During those years, she also had the courtship of two wonderful men whom she was torn to choose.

In May, 1951, Joyce graduated from Sun Prairie High School, at the age of 18 and made the heartfelt decision to accept Robert Longfield’s (Bob’s) proposal to marry him. They did so on September 27th, 1952, both at the age of 19.

They gave birth to their first daughter, Diane, at the age of 20. They stayed in Wisconsin (Dad also in the Navy) and continued to grow their family rapidly, by adding two son's, James & Cris, within the next 2 years. Then, relocating to Minnesota, they added 2 more, Rita & David.

They thought their family was completed until baby, Lynn, arrived 7 years later, at the age of 32. Both Joyce & Bob found the surprise to be a blessing and this completed their “little” family of 8.

Joyce had numerous friends and family. She loved to entertain, throwing countless Tupperware, Mary Kay, Avon & birthday parties.

Joyce worked at various places throughout her years. The highlight for her kids was when she worked at a carnival/party planning company called, “Moorelanes.” It was a family owned and operated business and became like a second family to them. Joyce and family even spent time with them at their cabin. Joyce often times would bring home little toy prizes and helium filled balloons for her kids. The neighborhood kids would join in the fun of making comical voices & singing songs after inhaling the helium from the balloons.

Joyce and Bob eventually divorced in 1979. Joyce had no problem with eligible bachelors in her pursuit however, she was not interested in reattaching herself at that time and instead enjoyed the company of her longtime friends that she had missed out on while raising her family.

Joyce loved to travel however, she would not really pursue that love of travel until her children were all adults and on their own.

She was an active member of the VFW and American Legion. She volunteered many hours of service and traveled to various states throughout the USA to attend their conventions. She also enjoyed loads of live music & entertainment, went on cruises, road trips, airplane travels and several tours of famous places.

Joyce sought out ways to care and help others. Her life was never about herself.

She loved to visit her sister, Ferne, in California every year. She loved California so much but would never have considered moving away from Minnesota because ‘this is where her kids are.’ Joyce’s main love and her focus has always, always been on her children. Even as all her children have gone beyond senior citizen age, she was still the same doting mother she had been when she cradled them in her arms.

Joyce had suffered many losses in her years but always stayed positive and joyful. She taught others to “always find the positives, inside the negatives.” “If you look hard enough, you will find them.”

Joyce absolutely LOVED to dance and was the “go-to-girl” at the VFW & Legion when the other wives did not want to dance with their husbands. They knew Joyce was “safe” and just wanted to dance the night away.

Joyce had lived, independently, in a one-bedroom apartment in Edina for over 20 years. She loved the convenient location of being right across the street from Target and just a couple blocks to Walgreens & Cub.

She enjoyed knitting, arts & crafts, and entertaining kids. In her later years, Joyce liked sudoku, crosswords, circle words and puzzles. She was quite good at them. She did not like the larger puzzles that took days to finish though. All that patience she had for people; she did not have that same patience for her puzzles. She also liked to read short stories but mostly enjoyed the company and conversation of family & friends.

Joyce moved to Mount Olivet Home (a.k.a. MOH, an assisted living facility) on January 7th, 2022 after being cared for at Careview for a little over a month. Previously, we had toured a handful of assisted living facilities together, and we are both very thankful that she chose and was accepted at MOH.

Joyce had only high praise for the staff. They became family to her and her daughter, Lynn.

The whole Longfield Family would like to thank the wonderful caregivers at Mount Olivet Home & Mount Olivet Careview for their exceptional care of Joyce. The friendships they forged with her during her time there and for their caring, comfort during her final breaths.

Joyce was preceded in death by father, Leo Hoppe, mother, Mable Hoppe. Siblings; brother, Ralph and sister's, Ferne Doll (Robert) & Shirley Jesberger (Leon) as well as many other close friends she had missed dearly. Also proceeding her death was Joyce's eldest son, James (Jim) Longfield, who passed 6 months prior to Joyce.

A celebration of Joyce’s long life will be held on Saturday, September 21, 2024, at the Cremation Society of Minnesota: 4343 Nicollet Avenue, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55409

A visitation will be held from 1-2:00 pm, with a service to begin at 2:00 pm followed by a reception, at same location, with food & refreshments until 3:30 pm.

In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to your local VFW’s, American Legion’s, or Children’s Hospital’s such as St Jude’s, Gillette Hospital, and the like.