Joyce Stedfast Taylor, 86 of LaConner, passed away Monday July 27, 2015 at Island Hospital with her loving husband, Ted at her side.

She was born in Winthrop, Massachusetts to Albert M. and Marion T. (Tabor) Stedfast.

Joyce grew up in the Boston area, attended Northampton School for Girls and then went on to Mt Holyoke College, graduating in 1951 with a B.A. in Economics.

A desire for new horizons took her to Southern California, where she worked for Douglas Aircraft and the Rand Corporation.

Joyce met her husband Ted, married in 1955, and settled down to raise two boys, Peter and Byard. The boys went off to college and Joyce found new interests in the art world. She took college courses and quickly excelled in pencil and charcoal drawing, water color, and Chinese brush painting. A course in stone sculpture guided her to her ultimate destiny as a sculptor. Joyce worked in alabaster and marble, with occasional side trips to make bronzes using lost wax. Her animals and fish seem alive with tension and suppressed energy. Joyce sold through a gallery in Laguna Beach, CA, and her works are in many US corporate offices.

Joyce’s work won 1st Place medals in juried art shows. The peak of her career was working with Carrara marble in Pietrasanta, Italy. Joyce and Ted moved to Washington State in 1986 and her sculpture continued until health issues dimmed that fierce creative spirit. She was afflicted in her last years by major illnesses and trauma which she overcame with gritty courage until the last illness was more than spirit and determination could conquer.

Throughout her life Joyce was an extraordinary cook, excelling at both flavor and presentation. Her artistic imprint is everywhere, from interior decorating to flowers to pictures and sculpture. Joyce left beauty wherever she went.

Her loving family includes her husband Ted, sons and wives Peter and Cathy, Byard and Linda; grandchildren Michael, Sarah, Christopher, Emily, and Sophia, and great-granddaughter Maia. We all will miss her enormously.