Joyce Mcmeekin Watke

Joyce McMeekin Watke, beloved wife of Rev. Dr. Edward F. Watke, Jr, went to be with the Lord at age 88. She was born May 31, 1935 near Shelby, Polk County, Nebraska, the daughter of George McMeekin and Pearl Strain Cator McMeekin. She passed away after a lengthy hospice care at Bethany Woods Nursing Center in Albemarle, North Carolina on February 11, 2024. Joyce grew up on a farm near Shelby and attended a one-room school house where she met her future husband. During her high school years she stayed with a family in Columbus, Nebraska so she could take piano lessons and attend Kramer High School, Columbus, Nebraska where she graduated in 1952. She and her husband were married on August 21, 1952 after which they moved to Omaha to attend Grace Bible Institute. As a pastor’s wife she served with her husband in multiple churches in Wyoming, Montana, Colorado, Georgia and Virginia. For twelve years they traveled speaking in churches across the United States and parts of Europe and South America, where she spoke to women’s groups. As a musician, she studied piano and saxophone from an early age. Later she played piano, organ, and saxophone in churches and taught private lessons and at Baptist Bible College in Denver, Colorado. She produced an album of her saxophone music. She inspired her children to use their musical talents for the Lord and passed down her inquisitive mind and love of learning. As a poet, she published two compendiums of her poetry. In the 1970s, she served as an administrator at Southgate Baptist School in Augusta, Georgia. Joyce is the granddaughter of James and Elizabeth McWha McMeekin, Ulster Presbyterians who immigrated to the United States from County Down, Northern Ireland shortly after their wedding in 1880, and Fred Jolly and Bertha Jarmin Strain whose ancestors were Presbyterians and Quakers. Joyce grew up at the United Evangelical Brethren Church in Shelby, Nebraska where she and her husband were married. They were married for 64 years. She is preceded in death by her parents, her husband, and her siblings, Hazel McMeekin Trout, Gladys McMeekin Treadway, Willis McMeekin, Wallace McMeekin, Donna Jean McMeekin Yonkers, Genon McMeekin Willits, Nell Cator Izzi, and Robert A. Cator, and her sister-in-law and brother-in-law, Dr. Virgil and Marian Watke Dirks, and her sister-in-law, Ilene Hamburger Watke. She is survived by her brother-in-law, Roger Watke; her children, Cynthia Watke Barrett (Isaac), Connie Watke Moffitt, and Dr. Curtis Watke (Lou Ann); thirteen grandchildren, and twenty-nine great-grandchildren. Family will be receiving friends at Westside Baptist Church in Martinez, Ga on Friday, Feb 16 from 1 to 2 pm, with the memorial service at the Church at 2 pm. Dr. Robert Lehn, pastor of Westside Baptist Church will be officiating. Internment will be at Hillcrest Memorial Park, Augusta, Georgia.