Obituaries / LJWorld.com

Obituaries

Oskaloosa - A celebration of life service for Joyce R. Reece, 63, Oskaloosa, will be at 2 p.m. Saturday at Barnett-Chapel Oaks Funeral Home in Oskaloosa. Cremation is planned. Ms. Reece died Sunday, Oct. 14, 2007, at a Topeka hospital from complications of Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome.She was born Oct. 23, 1943, in Chanute, the daughter of Irving C. "Jack" and Della Baker Reece. She graduated from Thayer High School in 1961. She received a Bachelor of Science degree in physical education in 1966 at Pittsburg State University and a master's degree in special education from Kansas University in 1991. She moved from Horton to Oskaloosa in 1984.Ms. Reece was a special education teacher for the Northeastern Kansas Education Center at Perry-Lecompton Elementary School, District 343. She also taught in Girard, Horton, and Weed, Calif. She was recognized by the Midwest Symposium of Leadership in Behavior Disorders as outstanding educator of the year in 1990.She was a musician and lived in Nashville from 1974 to 1982, where she worked on Music Row composing, performing and working with other artists. She was a member of the Kansas National Education Association and served on the Council for Exceptional Children. She was also a supporter of Greenpeace.Survivors include her partner, Sharon Laverentz, Oskaloosa; Sharon's sons, Kale Laverentz, Oskaloosa, and Schuyler Laverentz, Willow Springs, Mo.; four sisters, Faye Robertson, Thayer, Betty Huffman, Altamont, Donna McMillin, Tonganoxie, and Delores Young, Dallas; and two brothers, Merle Reece, Overland Park, and Dale Reece, St. Charles, Mo.The family suggests memorials to Jefferson County Humane Society, P.O. Box 57, Valley Falls 66088, or sent in care of the funeral home, P.O. Box 416, Oskaloosa 66066.