Violet Joyce Pietz

Violet Joyce Pietz, 96, passed away April 24, 2024, at Westpark Village assisted living facility in Billings. She was born on Oct. 8, 1927, in Minot, North Dakota, the daughter of Ole Frederick Johnson and Violet Victoria Rader Johnson.

When Joyce was a child, her parents moved to Glendive, where her father worked for the Northern Pacific Railroad. Ole had a friend and coworker, Harold Arthur Pietz, whom he took home to meet his daughter Joyce, one of his seven children. Harold “Red” and Joyce fell in love and were married on Feb. 8, 1946, in Glendive in a double ceremony with her brother George and his fiancée Betty.

Joyce was a phenomenal homemaker and cook and an excellent seamstress. Her home was always filled with the sweet smells of homemade bread, pies, cakes, donuts, cookies and cinnamon rolls. There was nothing she couldn’t make that wasn’t absolutely delicious. It was a treat for her children to come home from school and find fresh-baked goods just out of the oven.

Joyce and Red were excellent gardeners and, every summer, she would preserve the bounty from their garden and share it with their many neighbors and friends. They also loved to go out dancing and, when the music stopped, Joyce invited all her friends back to the house, where she would cook for them and they all enjoyed a meal together.

When Joyce decided to return to work, she was employed at St. Vincent Hospital as a secretary to the Director of Nursing Services. Later, she worked at Dyce Chemical Company. After she left the workforce, she continued to serve through volunteer work and donated hundreds of hours to Billings Clinic and Alberta Bair Theater. She loved both organizations and made many good friends.

Joyce wanted to live to be 100 and almost made it. She outlived all six of her siblings (George, June, Ole, William, Janaire and Gary). She is survived by her three children, Diane Pietz of Monroe, Washington, Maureen Jurovich of Billings and David (Kathy) Pietz of Tempe, Arizona. Joyce was the proud granny of five grandchildren, four great-grandchildren and three great-great-grandchildren.

Funeral service will be at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, May 7, at Michelotti-Sawyers Mortuary, 1001 Alderson Ave. Graveside service will follow at Sunset Memorial on Central Avenue and a celebration of life reception will be held at 1 p.m. at the Red Door in Billings.