Joyce Abbott

Joyce Abbott passed away on May 17, 2017 surrounded by her family. She was born on March 8, 1940 in Rush Springs, Oklahoma.

She married the love of her life, Leon Abbott, on December 5, 1960. They were wed for 56 ½ years and made a life, she adored, in Alamogordo, for 50 of those years.

Easy-going, vibrant and full of life. She was a 4 foot 11 inch, ball of fire! Being the center of her family was what she enjoyed the most. She regularly traveled to Texas, Oklahoma and Arizona to visit her family. You could always count on a phone call from Joyce, checking in, she would say, in her Oklahoma twang, "Well...What's going on?" And once she knew, she would make sure everyone was connected.

Joyce loved shopping, reading, and going to the movies but was always up for anything. She had a special group of friends she called the Golden Girls and they got together almost daily.

Joyce was strong, kind, forgiving and dearly loved. There are no words to express the depth of our loss as we remember her as a wife, mother, grandmother, sister and friend.

Survivors include her husband Leon Abbott, her daughter Lisa (Lance) VanHooser of Lucas, TX, Keith (Celeste) Abbott, of Los Alamos, NM, her grandchildren, Kristin and Jeffery O'Dell and their mother Connie (Mark) Perusse, Joelle (Andrew) Aguilar, Alyssa VanHooser, Zachary Abbott and Noah VanHooser and great-grandson A.J. Aguilar. Sister, Doris England, brother, Tommy (Frances) Potts, and numerous nieces and nephews.

She was proceeded in death by her father, Cubert D. Potts, mother Dovie C. Potts and beloved daughter Paula Abbott-Duran.

The funeral service for Joyce Abbott will be held at 10:00 am Tuesday May 23, 2017 at Grace United Methodist Church with Rev. Dustin Wilhite officiating.

Burial will follow at Monte Vista Cemetery.

The Abbott family has entrusted their loved one to the care of Hamilton-O'Dell Funeral Home to direct the funeral services.

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