Joyce (Brown) Long

BUFFALO GAP: Exa Joyce Long, went home to Jesus on March 2, 2020. She was 86 years old, a long-time resident of Buffalo Gap, and was a beloved mother, grandmother, and great grandmother

Exa Joyce, named after her maternal grandmother, was born in Breckenridge on December 10, 1933, to Willie Loy and Mamie Abi Brown. She went by Joyce and was the oldest of four children. She worked primarily as an in-home caregiver and was an amazing mother to eight children.

This woman was more than a wife, grandmother great grandmother; she was a second mom and caregiver. She taught about Jesus, and church. Joyce planted seeds of faith in everyone around her, especially her family. To her family she was the strongest woman they ever knew and who took everything this world threw at her with grace and mercy. She endured many hardships throughout her life, but never once did her faith waver. Joyce had the kind of faith and prayed the kind of prayers that will cover many generations, something we should all be thankful for. She lived her life to serve the Lord and her family, and she did it well. She fought her battles and the battles of her loved ones on the pages of her Bible and in prayer. Joyce was feisty, sarcastic, classy, super fashionable, strong-willed, stubborn, kind, loving… the list describing her can be long, but to know her was truly a gift from God. She was an amazing mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, daughter, sister, and friend. Her favorite hobbies included putting puzzles together, coloring, writing letters to her family and friends, and cutting pictures out of magazines and newspapers of sayings, flowers, butterflies, and all the things her beautiful soul loved about this world.

Joyce had willingness to feed everyone. She was always in the kitchen cooking and never let anyone walk through her home without eating something. She told it like it was. Even if what she said wasn’t something you wanted to hear, her words were said out of love and always with the best intentions.

Joyce is survived by her brother Buran Brown and wife Faye, sister Peggy Duvall and husband Harold, daughters Mary Kinnard, Tara Castille and husband Steve, sons Roger Edwards and girlfriend Sheila Dell, Phillip Edwards and wife Christi, and Russell Edwards. She is also survived by too many grandchildren and great-grandchildren to name, but all of whom she adored and held in the highest esteem.

Joyce was preceded in death by her father and mother, brother Rodney Brown, daughters Peggy Bronwyn Edwards and Laura Cox, and son Dennis Edwards.