Joyce Louise Hicks Murphy

life story

A Candle Glowing Bright

Jesus said, "I am the light of the world", Joyce Murphy was a candle glowing bright with that light.

She was "Mom" to all.

Joyce Louise Hicks Murphy was born to Alvin Julian Hicks and Helen Norma Alex Hicks in the Imperial Valley, May 20,1938. There, she spent her childhood with her parents and brother, Wayne, and would continue her life there, raising her family until the mid 1980’s. She enjoyed her school days and attended Imperial High School. She made several lifelong friends with whom she remained in touch with and enjoyed. Along with her other youthful activities she was named Miss United States at the Imperial Valley Mid-Winter Fair. She learned at an early age that she loved the Lord and gave her life to him.

Before finishing school, Mom met and married Larry Murphy who she spent 34 years and raised a family of 3 sons and a long-awaited daughter. With her love for Christ, she was active in the Church, led the Christian High School Youth Choir, that led her to be “Mom” to most of the kids in the Christian Youth Group in Imperial. She was also foster mother to more than a handful of other children. In the mid 1980’s she made several moves. First to San Diego, then to South Carolina, and back to California, where she settled, spending the latter part of her life in Yucaipa.

From the beginning of her adult life, Mom developed several passions and talents. First and foremost was her love for and service to the Lord. Mom dreamed of being a nurse. She was able to realize at least part of that dream by working as a nurse's aide for several years at the El Centro community hospital. She wrote about one of her most memorable experiences when she answered the call for help on one of her days off after a couple of the Blue Angels crashed into the crowd at the air show at NAF El Centro. After hearing of the accident she rushed to the hospital and spent several shifts helping to tend to the hundreds of burnt and wounded that day. And in the late '80s she worked as a Christian counselor in a large drug and mental rehab hospital.

Mom also poured her love into cooking and baking. She made wedding cakes, catered weddings and other parties. Later she enjoyed painting and other creative art forms. Mom enjoyed singing and sang with the trio "Blessed", which she used as a ministry to share with other groups and convalescent centers. She enjoyed writing, which included several hundred poems and more than a dozen short stories. She continued writing through her last days.

For the last thirty years of her life, she developed several chronic illnesses and diseases that kept her in pain most of time. With her never ending faith, she used her writings, and listening to Christian music to help calm her and ease her pain.

Mom passed away June 8, 2022 from complications due to septic shock. Preceeded in death by her parents Alvin and Helen Hicks, and nephew Wayne Hicks.

Survived by her brother Wayne; (3 sons, 1 Daughter, 24 Grandchildren, 19 Great Grandchildren, 1 Great Great Grandchild ) sons Larry, Kerry and Randy, and daughter Jeanette; Their spouses, Anne, Sherry, Tarlia and John;

Grandchildren Kyle, Marley, Sean, Shanna, Terry, Jennifer, Donnie, Aaron, Taryn, Marcel, Victor, Isacc, Isaiah, Kelly, Chris, Shana, Frank, Randy (Chris), Amber, Billy, John, Millie, Joseph, Francis; Great Grandchildren Dani, Cade, Makenna, Zachary, Andrew, Jon, Logan, Addison, Avery, Ayla, Audrey, Conrad, Amanda, Cole, Caleb, Aidan, Cambria, Liam, Simms; great great granddaughter Linley; Nieces and nephews Antoinette, Audra, Scott; great nieces and nephews Rosalyn, Steven, Natalie, Tim, Matt, Jonathan, Taylor, and great-great nephews Jaxson and Logan.

memorial service

Celebration of Life

August 13, 2022

Faith Chapel 1259 Agate Ave, Mentone, CA 92359, USA

Please join our family as we celebrate the loving life of our Mom, Joyce Murphy.