Joyce McKee, 66, of Piper City, Ill., died Sunday, Dec. 26, 1999, at St. Petersburg General Hospital in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Services were Friday, Dec. 31, at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in Thawville, Ill. Burial was in the Brenton Cemetery in Piper City, Ill.

Joyce McKee was born Sept. 14, 1933 to Gustav and Rose (Hethke) Grohler in Watseka, Ill. She spent her childhood in Thawville, Ill., graduating from Thawville High School in 1951.

On July 17, 1954, she married Wilfred “Bill” McKee. She worked alongside her husband on the family farm for more than 40 years.

She was a member of St. Peter’s Lutheran Church of Thawville, Ill., a volunteer at Prairieview Lutheran Home in Danforth, Ill., a member and past president of Legion Auxiliary Gibb Post #588 and a member of the Piper City Bowling League. She enjoyed traveling to warm places, boating and spending time with her family.

She is survived by her husband; one daughter and son-in-law, Dawn and Mike Branz of Blair; a son and daughter-in-law, Wilfred “Rocky” and Cathy McKee of Piper City, Ill.; four grandchildren, Ryan, Natalie, Barb and Watson; a sister-in-law, Nancy Grohler of Piper City, Ill.; one niece; and one nephew.

She was preceded in death by her parents and one brother, Gerald Grohler.

Memorials are suggested to Prairieview Lutheran Home in Danforth, Ill.

Reilly-Redenius Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements.

~~~ Obituary courtesy of the Washington County Genealogical Society. Newspaper clippings on file in the Blair Public Library at Blair, Nebraska.~~~