Joyce Marilyn Conley Barr, 76, died February 13, 2010 at the Hacienda Rehab and Care Center in Sierra Vista, Arizona.
A memorial service took place Feb. 19, 2010 at the Hatfield Memorial Chapel in Sierra Vista Ariz. She was laid to rest next to her husband, Richard Barr, at the Cochise Memory Gardens in Sierra Vista, Ariz. There will be times for remembering Joyce at 2010 family reunions in New York.
Joyce was born on Nov. 20, 1933 in Penn Yan, to Oscar and Cora Harrison Conley. She attended a one room school house on Italy Hill in Branchport and Middlesex Central Schools. She married Richard Barr in 1951 and they had eight children. Joyce was kept busy raising a family, but also did childcare for other children, took in laundry and cleaned houses to help support the family.
After all the children were in school she went on to earn her GED. She held a variety of jobs over the years, but was most proud of her many years driving school bus for the Penn Yan School District. She volunteered in a number of settings, including the Penn Yan Ambulance Corps. She and her husband were very involved in the Penn Yan Elks Club. She retired to Sierra Vista, Ariz. with her husband in the 1990s and they celebrated their 50th anniversary in 2001 by going on a golden honeymoon to Hawaii. Richard predeceased Joyce in 2005.
She is survived by her eight children: Deborah Barr Stevens (Aaron) of Romulus, Gwendlyn (Les) Hibbard, of Geneva; Sheila (Guy Smith) Heller, of Glendale, Ariz.; Phyllis Barr Romero ,of Sierra Vista, Ariz.; Teresa (Camilo) Parris, of Temple, Texas.; Pamela Windover, of Lawton, Okla..; Jori (Willie) Erb, of Sierra Vista, Ariz. and Kevin Richard (Michele) Barr, of Interlaken; 14 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren. She is also survived by siblings, Joan Bunn, Gary Nealis and Carol Mintier of Sierra Vista Ariz., and Janice Dailey of Penn Yan.
She was predeceased by her husband, her parents, a sister, Donna Conley Covert; a brother, Harold Raymond Conley; step-mothers, Dorothy Conley and Harriet Conley, and step-father, Tom Nealis.
