Luretta Joyce Ball

Luretta “Joyce” Ball

January 23, 1938 – August 26, 2026

Luretta Joyce Ball, 88, passed away peacefully at Waukesha Memorial Hospital with family by her side on August 26, 2026.

Joyce was born in 1938 to Carl and Luretta (nee Wood) Clevenger in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She was a spirited young person who loved spending time with her friends, being a cheerleader, and working in a jewelry store. After graduating from Kelloggsville High School in 1954, she soon married her high school sweetheart, David, and started a family.

While David worked on fruit farms, Joyce forged full steam ahead in making a comfortable home and learning farm life. She preserved fruits and vegetables, made incredible desserts and was Mom to first Jeri, then Art, and finally Penny. After 10 years on the farm, the family moved to Caledonia, Michigan, and added Ellen to the family.

Joyce had taught herself to sew as a teenager and later made adorable clothing for her children and nieces. At one point, she even agreed to make 16 pinafores for the school musical because her daughter said she could! Her talents really shone when she started doing bridal alterations for a small shop. Soon, she got a job doing alterations for boys and men’s clothing at JCPenney. Her three daughters were blessed to have Mom create exquisite wedding gowns for each of them.

Joyce’s next phase of life took her family to Philadelphia. Though they lived in the city, they found a plot of ground to use for a garden, so Joyce went right back into canning and freezing fresh veggies. She loved to make home cooked meals as well as some fabulous desserts. Chocolate cake, brownies, pies and cobblers were some favorites, but all her grandchildren wanted were Grandma’s cinnamon rolls!

Not many people realized that in addition to sewing, knitting and reading, Joyce liked to draw and sketch. For fun, she even decided to take some drafting classes. She was a lifelong learner. She took home economic classes from the county extension office when they lived on the farm. Later, after moving to Wisconsin and starting a career in banking, she took night classes in accounting. These skills earned her a promotion at work and the opportunity to serve on her church board as Treasurer for many years.

More than anything, Joyce loved her savior, Jesus, and loved to support missions work locally and globally. She had the chance to travel to the Philippines to learn first-hand about Resources for the Blind. Over the years, she served on her church Missions Committee and supported many missionaries. Caring for people and attending Bible study was an important part of her life.

Joyce was very good at new beginnings. She moved with her family many times and more recently her move to Eagle led her to a second chance at love with her “walking buddy” Skip. They were recently engaged and she looked forward to yet another new beginning in life with Skip.

Joyce’s departure from this world will leave a hole in the hearts of her children Jeri (Tom) Otto, Penny (Bill) Hermann, Ellen (Todd) Lamping and her grandchildren: Nick (Alisa) Otto, Nate (Jillian) Otto, Xander Lamping, Colin (Jade) Lamping and Paige Lamping as well as her six great-grandchildren. She will be deeply missed by her loving fiancé Skip Coghlan.

Joyce is survived by her sister Janet (David) Coykendall, brother Carl Jay (Ruth) Clevenger and brother-in-law Richard (Deloris) Ball, as well as many loved nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her husband of 69 years David Ball, her son Art Ball, her sister June Ball and her parents.

The family would like to give special thanks to the ICU staff at Waukesha Memorial as well as Angels Grace hospice.

A Celebration of Life will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, September 3, 2026, at StoryHill Church, S93W30580 County Road NN, Mukwonago, WI.  Pastor Josh Koskinen will officiate. The service will be streamed here. Gibson Family Funeral Homes will be assisting the family.

Joyce’s wish was to have all the beautiful flowers at her funeral that she could never have in her home due to allergies. If you would like to send flowers, Americana Flower Station (americanaflowerstation.com) is assisting the family with this request.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Luretta Joyce Ball, please visit our floral store.