Obituary of Ida Joyce Builta
~~Joyce Builta
EULESS – Ida Joyceann Jones Builta was supposed to be stillborn but to everyone’s surprise she was born vibrant and screaming Jan. 1, 1938, to Robert and Hester Jones, and passed away Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2017.
The celebration of Joyce’s life will be at 1 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 10, at First United Methodist Church of Hurst, 521 W. Pipeline Road.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Austin Builta Memorial Scholarship at The Oakridge School, 5900 W. Pioneer Parkway, Arlington, Texas 76013 or www.theoakridgeschool.org.
Joyce Builta was 5’ 3” most of her life, but her spirit and spunk was about 6’ 4” and a little taller if you had the misfortune of inspiring her Irish rage.
If you were a child, Joyce automatically loved you, being an elementary school teacher for 32 years. If you were a difficult child, she loved you even more, being a momma for 51 years.
Joyce’s claim to fame in her early life was being Tiger Queen of Belton High School in fall 1955 and valedictorian of the class of 1956. She then gained notoriety for marrying Kenneth Builta, the James Dean of Kerrville, Texas, in 1960. She made a move toward sainthood when, after having two children (Daron in 1965, Brian in 1968), she managed not to beat them into bloody pulps while prodding them along toward manhood.
It took Joyce about 30 seconds to make a friend for life, but she also had a God-given hogwash detector installed at birth so it only took her about 15 seconds to recognize a fool who should not be suffered for, well, more than 15 seconds.
Joyce will tell you the joys of her life (besides herding young children, raising two boys, and epic battles with the love of her life) were playing bridge with her loud and talkative bridge club, partying and raising money for charity with The Dilettantes, hanging out and causing trouble with The Oakcrest Women’s Club, having lunch with her former fellow teachers (The Winners), living in Morrisdale Estates for 50 years, and being a member of First United Methodist Church of Hurst for 51 years.
The greatest lesson Joyce ever taught was how to grow old with dignity, as the people you love most in the world begin to die one by one and your body parts begin to fail, one by one, and that you can cry and mourn and hurt and still get up every day and smile and laugh and make new friends all the way to the end, which she has now reached, God bless her soul and her beautiful spirit, which is returning to heaven from which it came to bless us all. Amen.
Joyce is survived by her brother Hal and his wife Pam, her sons Daron and Brian and their better halves Steve and Sarah, her granddaughter Anna, her sister-in-law Clara and her husband Bob, her brothers-in-law Sam and James and their better halves Bettye and Susan, numerous nieces and nephews, and her adopted grandchildren Joyce McCown and Tommy Hankins.
