February 27, 1934 ~ December 2, 2023 (age 89)
Joy was born on Feb. 27, 1934, in San Bernardino, California to Abel and Coy Lee Pierson. Joy had a younger brother named Dexter. She grew up the daughter of two Baptist missionaries and had a childhood full of adventures as her parents did the Lord’s work. As a child, she lived in Chihuahua and Torreón, Mexico, El Paso and graduated high school in Dallas.
She attended Hardin Simmons University where she met her lifelong partner and husband, Donnie Campbell. She and Donnie were married on January 29, 1955. As a coach’s wife she lived
in Raton, New Mexico and then Stephenville.
Stephenville is where she lived and raised their family for over 60 years. They had three children Casey, Terie, and Chad. For those 60 plus years, Joy had several roles running the Campbell House. She was the spiritual guide, making sure all the kids attended church every Sunday and had a song in their heart. She ruled the house with a calm, loving hand which was important with three competitive children and an even more competitive husband. Without her, there would have never been a game of Flinch, 42 or 84, dominoes, spades, Yahtzee or Wahoo that didn’t end in an argument, but due to Joy they always ended in laughter. She was an amazing cook who had a recipe book that was 5 inches thick, but no one ever saw her open it. Joy was a perfectionist and it served her well when she later had a successful career as a draftsperson for an Oil Company and then for the Texas A&M System. She would tell you that she dabbled in painting, but that was far from the truth. Joy was a remarkable artist and skilled with many mediums from Watercolors, Pastels, Pencil, and Oils. Although she finished hundreds of paintings, she had just as many if not more that didn’t make the “Joy Cut”. These paintings were finished and they were wonderful, but something would catch her eye to make it less than perfect.
If you ever went to Joy’s house you would almost feel like you were in a botanical garden. She loved her plants and working in the yard. There was never a season that a flower wasn’t in bloom. Her artistic ability was on full display during every holiday, especially the Christmas season. During that time there would be multiple trees in the house, and every flat surface available with a display. She hand-made most of her decorations as she didn’t believe in store bought ornaments. If they were store bought you better believe that Joy would redo or change it to put her personal touch on it prior to putting it out
for anyone to see. Joy’s muse for beauty, peace, and grace was a Cardinal. She loved all birds (except chickens and Blue Jays) and would spend hours watching and listening to them play in her flower garden. Things were always at their best when a Cardinal was present. Nobody knows for sure when it became so, but Joy rarely left the house without something purple on. Purple was “her” color, maybe because of Hardin Simmons or all of those years at Tarleton, or maybe it is just a personal preference, so Joy and purple were always together; she owned it.
Her full name was Ethel Joy, besides the fact she didn’t care for the name Ethel, she and anyone who spent time with her knew Joy was not only her name but an emotion you had when she was around you. Her smile and joyful disposition was infectious. If her smile didn’t get you, her quick wit would certainly catch you by surprise. Let’s face it, married to Donnie and with her Casey, Terie, and Chad, she had plenty of ammunition to use that wit.
Joy loved her grandchildren Courtney, Caitlin, Carly, and Cooper in which she was always available to them offering a helping hand. This may be a home cooked meal, a game, some advice, or just a place to go for a little extra love, Grandmother Joy made herself available.
Survivors include her devoted children, Terie Campbell of Southlake, Texas; and Chad Lee Campbell and wife, Paige, of China Grove, North Carolina; granddaughters Courtney and husband, Chris Coffman of Abilene, Texas; Caitlin and husband Lanning Hansen of Denver, Colorado; Carly Campbell of New York, New York; and Cooper Lee Campbell of China Grove, North Carolina; as well as numerous cousins. She was preceded in death by her parents, Able and Coy Lee Pierson; brother, Dexter; husband, Donnie Campbell; son, Casey Campbell and his wife, Susan Campbell.
Memorials may be made in Joy Campbell’s name at the Dementia Society of America at www.dementiasociety.org/donate.
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