Joyce Christine Davis
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Joyce Christine Davis, 63, of Kansas City, Missouri passed away May 2, 2019 after a short illness. Ms. Davis was born August 7, 1955 in Kansas City, Missouri.
Joyce had just retired from the IRS after 31 years. Her love of music and accordion began young. She received her B.S. in music and accordion performance from UMKC in 1979. She performed with the Accordion Orchestra for many years and numerous concert tours in the United States and many other countries.
She was the favorite daughter of Lawrence and Zelma Davis, sister to Larry, Gary and Ronnie.
Memorial services will be held from 10:30-11:30am June 1, 2019 at First Assembly of God, 3711 Whitney Court Independence, MO.
I have been out of town with the group in which Joyce has been playing for many years . We just received word of her death and are feeling absolutely devastated with the loss of our dear, dear friend. Tomorrow I will contact her family to find out more. Be assured Joyce will be missed but will remain in our hearts forever! Love, Joan Cochran Sommers, her accordion teacher and longtime friend
Our hearts and prayers go out to the family of Joyce Who have lost a precious one. Joyce will be remembered with Love by our family as a very special friend and an accomplished musician.
Joyce was always a great Mid-America Music Board member and I loved working with her for all those years. She had a heart for young musicians and leaves a legacy of love for music and musicians. Sincere thoughts of tenderness and sympathy to all who knew and loved Joyce. Betty Preston Steele
I met Joyce when I came to Kansas City to study accordion at the UMKC Conservatory of Music. She and her parents were always so good to me. Joyce, her Mom, Zelma, and I were roommates many times at accordion festivals and even at the Worlds Fair in Knoxville, TN. Oh, what fun to spend time with Zelma and Joyce. Joyce was always so quiet, like her Dad, and what an incredible musician. She was always someone we could depend on in the Accordion Orchestra, whether it was on the elektronium or the bass accordion, or even a regular accordion part. Joyce, you are definitely missed by everyone in your accordion family, and will be missed for a very long time. Say “hi” to Zelma and Larry for me, because it helps to know that you’re back together. : )
We are so saddened to learn of Joyce’s passing. She was a very sweet lady and always dependable. You could always count on Joyce to know her parts and she was a very steady foundation for the group.
As accordion friends, we will miss her dearly.
I have known Joyce since she and I were 10, in accordion orchestra. She was always the “rock” when all of the rest of us musicians were on-edge before a performance. We love her and will definitely miss her.
So very saddened to hear about Joyce! She was the “quiet” one that had moments of absolute comic brilliance and a fine musician. Bus trips were always fun with Joyce. Sincere Condolences to her family!
I met Joyce when I started playing in the Accordion Orchestra when I was a young teenager. She was an amazing musician and such a sweet person. She will be missed by many.
Joyce taught the accordion to a lot of children in our studio(United Teachers Of Music)for several years. The kids always enjoyed her and she gave them confidence to perform when it came time for MAMA competition. She was always dependable and on time. She encouraged everybody to perform and practice. She used to talk about Mr. Cochran who tried to get her to smile by teasing her and giving her pointers on the accordion. Her dear father put in extra studio teaching rooms in our first studio location. Her mother always assisted her at the MAMA desk. She will be missed by a lot of accordion and MAMA people.
Joyce was my first accordion teacher. She was a fount of patience and calm and never grew the least bit ruffled over anything. My deepest condolences.
I hope Joyce, “Juice” knew how much we loved her. As most everyone has mentioned, she was not a conversationalist! I’m one of those who had know her since she was a pony-tailed little kid in the accordion training orchestra. Loyal always to Joan Sommers’ accordion ensemble efforts over the years, she was a “rock” that everyone depended upon. Music, to us, defined Joyce – but what a good way to be remembered. My sincere condolences to her family and other friends.
What a shock to learn of Joyce‘s passing. She may have been a quiet person, never bringing attention to herself but was always very dependable in accordion orchestra and supportive of the accordion in so many ways. We already missed her this last year not participating in accordion ensemble due to her health issues and was hoping she would come back soon. She will be greatly missed. My deepest condolences to her family and friends.
Although not an accordion player, I loved the music and became acquainted with many of the accordion students during my time at UMKC-Conservatory of Music. Joyce was one of them and I can agree with everyone’s expression of remembrances, that Joyce was indeed one in a million, along with her mother and father. Seemingly always there, even if by being the quiet one. To, her memory and to her family, I am sending blessings of… Love, Light & Spirit!
I performed “on tour” overseas with several of Joan’s orchestra travels. Joyce was always in the orchestra. Her mother would always go along and we all had a good time. Joyce played in the ATG Orchestra many times at many festivals when I was President of ATG. She truly was “the quiet one”. She knew what to do and she did it without any discussion. She was the type of player Joan would appreciate the most I am sure. We are very sorry for her passing. I hope she knows how much she was appreciated and will be missed. Our love and sympathy to her friends and family.
My heart is saddened to hear of Joyce’s death. Loved working with her on the MAMA board and festival. Her love for music lives in all of us who enjoyed her playing, and the students who benefited from her teaching. My condolences to the family.
I met Juice (our nickname for Joyce) as a UMKC Freshman in 1980, when I had the great fortune of joining the UMKC Accordion Family. She soon became one of the most dependable, loyal and dear friends one could ever hope for. A wonderful musician and ultimate ‘team player’, no matter how challenging the piece, on either Bass or regular accordion, she never faltered and the occasional sweat bead was the only clue on that Poker face that the pressure was on. She was a Teacher, a Board Member and Executive Officer of major musical organizations such as the ATG and MAMA, a valued musician and she produced stunning music calligraphy during the early Music Publishing days.
Juice never missed a beat either musically or socially and even in times when she wasn’t able to join one of our trips or concerts, she would always be there for the social outings to enjoy the endless banter and story telling over a beer.
Thanks Juice for your heart of gold, your friendship, the laughs, the stories, your music and most of all, thanks for just being you! I will miss you so much! Joyce loved her accordion family and we loved Joyce!
I have had the pleasure of meeting Joyce at irregular intervals for the last 40 years. We have shared a drink together at many accordion events and sometimes after rehearsal over the 40 years. Always a friendly face with a warm welcome for her Kiwi friends. The unexpected passing of Joyce is a huge loss for all her UMKC friends who will miss both her excellent bass lines and loved personality.
I wish I had known she passed away. I would have liked to have attended. She was a great accordianaire. I know she loved her family and was ever present to care for her elderly parents. Rest in peace Joyce