LeJoyce (McKinney) Carter-Joyner

LeJoyce McKinney was born November 20, 1934 in Sardis, MS to Laura Danner and Marion Lee McKinney. She departed this life on March 9, 2019. She was the second oldest of eight children. Her family relocated to Gary, Indiana when LeJoyce was very young. She attended Froebel High School in Gary, Indiana. Lejoyce married Calvin Carter, Sr. and to this union two children were born, Calvin Jr. and Tollie, and a loving blended family was formed along with LeJoyce’s existing daughter, Phocia. She worked at Vivian’s Record Shop on 16th and Broadway which later blossomed into Vee Jay Records which was owned by her husband Calvin Carter, Sr. and his sister, Vivian Carter Bracken and her husband James Bracken. After Vee Jay became a successful record label LeJoyce became a stay at home mom and in 1969 joined the workforce and began her career as an operator for Illinois Bell Telephone and was later promoted to the position of Service Representative, selling business equipment and phone service to businesses. She remained in that position until she retired in 1995. She got remarried to Robert Joyner  in 1997. She enjoyed worshiping many years at Trinity Lutheran Church in Park Forest, Illinois. From her record shop days she continued to have a deep love of music and some dancing. There were many family gatherings where games like Password and Bid Whist and lots of music and dancing. She had a green thumb and was a wonderful homemaker. She was a homebody and was very family oriented. She was an excellent cook and most of all a nurturer to her children and grandchildren. Lejoyce was preceded in death by: mother and father; three brothers, Franklin, Raymond, Sherman; son, Calvin Carter, Jr. ; and many other cherished great uncles and great aunts. She leaves to cherish her memory: husband, Robert Joyner; daughter, Phocia (Bobby) Jackson; son, Tollie Carter; sisters, Anna (James) Handley, Arlene (Dozier) Allen, Sarah Dennie, and Ruby Holman; 7 grandchildren; and 5 great grandchildren; and a host of other relatives and friends.

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