Joyce M. Klinkhammer

Our beloved wife and mother, Joyce Klinkhammer, 88, of Missoula, passed away surrounded by her loving family, on May 14, 2021 at St. Patrick Hospital, after a courageous, two-year battle with cancer.

Joyce was born in Fosston, MN to Roy and Hilda, the eldest of six children. She grew up on the family farm and started working as a nurse’s aide at age 14 which inspired a lifelong career in healthcare. She attended high school in Fosston. She met her husband, Clarence (Fritz), at the Flowing Well Tavern. He saw her standing with a group of girls next to the orchestra and asked her to dance. She turned him down the first time he asked her out but accepted his second request for a date. The rest is history. They married on February 5, 1951. From that union, came three children, Mike, Lorrie and Julie and three precious granddaughters, Megan, Tara and Jena.

Joyce and Fritz lived in northwest Minnesota surrounded by a large extended family until Fritz’s job took them to Ronan, MT in 1970. Joyce worked in the healthcare field most of her working career, including working as a nurse’s aide in both Minnesota and Montana and ending her career as a doctor’s assistant at the Ronan Medical Clinic for 11 years. She retired in 1991. She and Fritz then moved to Missoula to be closer to children and grandchildren.

Joyce loved the Lord and was active in church activities, including serving in the Diocesan Healing Ministry for the Diocese of Helena. She believed in the power of the Holy Spirit. She volunteered at St. Patrick Hospital for many years. She was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Mayflower Society. She enjoyed reading, square dancing, ballroom dancing and spoiling her grandchildren. She rooted for the Montana Grizzlies and most of the family met for “breakfast club” every home football game for many years. Family was most important to Joyce and she strove to be a good wife, parent, grandmother, and mother-in-law. She succeeded!

She was preceded in death by her parents, her brother Ralph and his wife, her sisters, Theresa and Lois, and their husbands, a brother-in-law and two nieces.

She is survived by her loving husband of 70 years, Fritz, her children and grandchildren, her sisters Lillian and Mary and numerous nieces and nephews.

Visitation will be from 5:30 – 6:00 pm on Thursday, May 20, 2021 followed by a Rosary at Garden City Funeral Home. Joyce’s life will be celebrated with a funeral Mass on Friday, May 21, 2021 at 1:30 pm at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church with Father Craig Hightower presiding. Burial will follow at the new St. Mary’s Cemetery. For those who are unable to attend in person, both the Rosary and funeral Mass will be live-streamed.

In lieu of flowers, Joyce requested that Masses be said for her.