June Joyce Eleanor Howard

JUNE JOYCE (KING) HOWARD

June Joyce (nee King) Howard, 80, passed unexpectedly at 12:50 am on July 8, 2019 in Panama City Beach, Florida.Joyce was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania on April 26, 1939 to US Navy Commander (retired) Paul Jasper King and June Rose (nee Boyajian) King. She was a 1957 graduate of Pensacola High School and went on to receive a Bachelors of Arts degree in English from the Florida State University. She was a life-long educator, retiring from Rickards High School in Tallahassee, Florida after 40 years. Although born in Pennsylvania, Joyce grew up in the Pensacola bayous where her love of the ocean began to seep into her soul. She competed in water skiing at the National Championship level in Jump, Slalom, and Tricks for many years, appearing in tournaments and shows throughout the Midwest and Southeast. At one time she was a world-record holder for ski jump distance, and won the overall Water Ski Slalom title in 1959 at Five Flags, Callaway Gardens in Pine Mountain, Georgia.
Joyce loved family and was passionate about keeping connections with relatives both near and far, organizing family reunions, passing along notes and updates, and performing extensive genealogical research. She was an extremely active member of the Daughters of the American Revolution and loved discovering new connections about her ancestry.

Joyce had so many close family and dear friends and never met a person that didn’t have a story to share. She leaves behind her husband of 59 years, Phillip Sidney Heyder/Howard of Panama City Beach, Florida; son Phillip Timothy Howard (Jennifer nee Crouse) of Tallahassee, Florida; daughter Holly Lynn (nee Howard) Brannigan (Paul) of Dacula, Georgia; and daughter Mary Katherine (nee Schulte) Bailey (Darrell) of Flower Mound, Texas; five grandchildren – Timothy Grayson, Johnathan Gage, and Christopher Gunnar Howard, and Kyla Rose and John Michael Brannigan.

Funeral services to be held at the Kent Forest Lawn Funeral Home & Cemeteries at 2403 Harrison Avenue in Panama City. Guest will be received starting at 4 pm (Central) with a ceremony at 5 pm. Following this ceremony, guest are welcome to attend a brief oceanside ceremony to consecrate her ashes, weather permitting. A dinner celebration of Joyce’s life will immediately follow at a nearby beach restaurant.

Joyce lived her life in Full Color and loved the turquoise of the ocean and the Navy blue of her father’s profession most of all. Accordingly, guests are encouraged to wear those colors, or a festive color of your own choosing, to celebrate Joyce’s Full Color life at any/all of the events in lieu of the traditional black.

Please share any and all memories, stories, photos, and more either with Holly and Tim, and/or on her tribute page on https://www.kentforestlawn.com/ as this will help her grandchildren and future generations know her even more deeply, and will understand the impact on who she was and what she meant to you/us.

Mom, you landed your final jump in perfect form! It is now time for you to enjoy your endless crab boil, skiing, and spending time with all our generations who have been waiting for you. You are at peace, and we know you will be with us. We will miss your laughter, your silly jokes, your immense love of family, and being a fully-accessorized hostess for any and every reason/holiday/event.
Well done and we watch now as the ski boat pulls you away from shore and you are drawn out of our earthly view …

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