On April 18th, 1956 Rolland and Leona (Imerman) Troester welcomed Joyce Lynn Troester into their lives in Hampton, Iowa. In 1963 the family moved to Clarinda, Iowa where Joyce attended school and graduated. She loved school and it kindled her lifelong passion for reading. After graduating high school in Clarinda in 1974, she went on to attend Iowa Western Community College and then the University of Northern Iowa, where she received her bachelors degree and her teaching certificate. She taught for 1 year in Sway City, Iowa, and then in 1979 Joyce moved back to Southwest Iowa, where she would teach at Shenandoah Community Schools for 32 more years until her retirement in 2011. She loved her colleagues and students very much. She loved playing pranks on her fellow teachers, and really enjoyed going to lunch with them on inservice days. Not just a teacher, but a special education teacher for her entire career, she loved helping to coach her students in The Special Olympics in her early years of teaching. Teaching was her passion and seeing her students success in and out of the classroom was one of her greatest joys (seeing the occasional lice on their heads was not, however).

Not long after being being back in Southwest Iowa in 1980 she met Joe Kirchner while he was burning a tree stump in the yard a block from Joyce's sister's house in Braddyville, Iowa. No doubt this was just like the plot of one of her romance novels. The two were married on August 3, 1982. They settled in Braddyville where they built their home together, literally, as shortly after they were married Joe's dad scolded her for being on the roof of the house handing shingles to Joe when she was 6 months pregnant.

In December 1982, the couple welcomed their son Joshua, and in January 1986 they added a daughter, Jessica. Joyce was a wonderful, kind and patient mother, who often didn't give herself the credit she deserved. She loved and supported her children through their various activities growing up. She had a great sense of humor and didn't mind being the target of her children's many jokes and pranks (they inherited mischievousness from both parents). She enjoyed many activities with her kids and neighbors, especially during summer breaks and snow days. She loved camping and boating (less so the actual boating part as she was terrified of water) with family and friends many weekends over the summers. Joyce and Joe were well known for their pool in Braddyville, and for hosting many parties, most notably their annual 4th of July parties. What wasn't as well known is that pools attract bats. Joe and the kids came home one night to find Joyce with a pair of Josh's underwear on her head and a badminton racquet in her hand because there was a bat in the house.

Besides her family, what Joyce loved most of all was the chance to be by herself reading a book. From an early age she had a passion for reading, and talked about reading in the bathroom at night as a kid because she could keep the light on in there without disturbing her siblings or parents. She would read the same book more than one time, and had a huge collection of romance novels. She was selfless to a fault, always putting the needs of her children and family ahead of her own. She hated the smell of cooked peas and macaroni and cheese, but would still make them because her kids loved them. She would do anything for anyone, if she could, even accidentally supergluing her fingers to a rattlesnake once in an effort to glue its rattles back on.

In 2007, Joyce and Joe began restoring a home on the north side of Clarinda and moved there. But the biggest change in their lives came in 2011 when Joyce retired from teaching and they purchased a house in Galveston, Texas one block from the ocean. Within a few years they had moved there full time and sold their homes in Iowa. They then built a second home next to the original one. This second home is well known throughout Galveston, and was featured in Coast Monthly magazine. With a palapa 56 feet off the ground, they were able to enjoy the view of the ocean and take in the evening breeze, as well as entertain the copious friends that they so easily made. Even though she disliked dogs most of her life, she came around in her retirement and she loved her 3 toy poodle puppies. She spent the last few years helping her husband run their store, Alley Antiques, on Broadway in Galveston. While working at the store, she loved greeting customers, many of whom she became friends with. When she wasn't at the store, she could be found in a chair with her dog, socializing with friends on the Strand, or throughout Galveston, or hosting parties in the garage at their house. Over the last decade in Galveston she made lots of friends who became like family, and she cherished being a part of their adopted seaside community. Joyce was a beloved wife, mother, grandmother and friend. We all will miss her dearly. We will carry the memories of her life for the rest of ours.

She was proceeded in death by her parents Rolland and Leona Troester, father-in-law Les Kirchner, and sister Diane Troester. Left to cherish her memory are her husband Joe Kirchner, Galveston, TX; son Josh (Erin) Kirchner, Oak Park, IL; daughter Jessica (Matthew) Schildberg, Greenfield, IA; 6 grandchildren Josie, Gracie, Wyatt, Sloan, Stella, and Evelyn. Brothers Keith (Diana) Troester and Dennis Troester, sister Janiece Vardaman, and many other family members and countless friends in Iowa and Galveston.
Joyce passed away on April 10, 2024 in Galveston. A memorial service and celebration of life will be held at a later date.