Joyce Ann Gentry

On February 25, 2022, Joyce Ann Gentry received her wings and went to talk with the angels. She was 67 years old. Joyce Ann Gentry was born on October 10, 1954, in Beirne, Arkansas, and was the eldest of six children. She grew up in Beirne surrounded by the love of her sisters and brothers. Joyce Ann was a graduate of Bell High School.

Believing God’s word, …” and the two shall become one flesh…” she became Mrs. Joyce Gentry when she married Augustus Gentry. They started their lives together in Lansing, Michigan, and to this union, God trusted her with the greatest tasks of all; to nurture, raise and love three beautiful children, LaTara, Eric, and Erica. As a mother, Joyce was the epitome of selfless and unconditional love. Joyce was more than a mother; she was a doctor, lawyer, mechanic, teacher, cheerleader, and ultimately a best friend forever to all of her three children.

Joyce gave love another try; cupid shot his arrow and the rest was history. She and Allen Brown were inseparable Whenever you saw one, there was the other. There was no denying their love for one another.

Joyce loved to cook and was best known for her sweet potato pie. But any meal prepared by her was made with her secret ingredient…. LOVE! Joyce was beautiful, quiet, and strong yet a gentle loving woman with a smile to brighten up the darkest day.

Her greatest joys were her grandchildren. They brought out the best in her. Side by side, or miles apart her grandchildren were always close to her heart.

Joyce was preceded in death by her mother, Ms. Orystine Gulley, her father Alvin Young, and a sister, Wanda Fayre.

She leaves to cherish her memory three children, LaTara of Lansing, MI, Eric of Gurdon, AR and Erica of New Bern, NC; her beloved grandchildren, Tiana, Isaac, Isaiah, and Tora; siblings, Margaret (Billy) Campbell, Johnny (Stella) Lacy, Lonnie (Glynis) Lacy, and David (Yvette) Lacy; aunts, Vera D. Newton and Barbara Allen and an uncle Tommy Allen. She also leaves last but not least, a very special man Allen Brown also with a host of nieces, nephews, other relatives, and friends.

Submitted by the family

Visitation will be from 1:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m. on Monday, March 14, 2022, at Williams Funeral Home. Family and friends will celebrate her life at 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday, March 15, 2022, at Williams Funeral Home with Rev. Rufus Hatley, the eulogist. Interment will be at Shady Grove Cemetery in Beirne.

Bearers of the casket will be Lonnie Lacy, Sr., Jamelle Lacy, David Lacy, II., Mark Williams, Jonathan Lacy, and Thomas Ray Allen. Honorable to mention are Thomas Allen, Lonnie Ray Lacy, Sr., Johnnie Ray Lacy, Jr., David Wayne Lacy, I., Ivory Roberts, Sr., and Allen Brown.