Joyce Eckart Funeral recording link: https://youtu.be/QdvDKBxdJcc

Joyce Ilene (Schmidt) Eckart, 89, went to meet her heavenly Lord on December 13, 2021, at her apartment in Harvey. Surrounding her in the journey was her loving family.

Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, December 18, 2021 at the Cornerstone Community Church North Campus in Harvey.  Pastor Jason Arthur from the Martin Baptist Church will be officiating. Visitation will be held at the church for one hour prior to the service.  Graveside services will be held in the spring at the Martin Baptist Cemetery.

The funeral service will be recorded and uploaded to this site within 48 hours of the service.

Joyce Ilene (Schmidt) Eckart was born November 1, 1932, in Martin to John and Eva (Dockter) Schmidt. She was raised in Martin, along with two brothers and three sisters.

Her freshman year, she went to school in Geneseo, IL and stayed with her brother Ervin and his family. She came back and finished her schooling in Martin and graduated from high school in 1950. She attended college at Minot State and became a teacher and taught for 8 years in rural schools. She loved being a teacher because she loved kids.

On November 26, 1954, she was united in marriage to Richard Eckart. It was a surprise to some that she married him because he stole her dog, Tiny, when she was little, and then her mother sold him the dog. She figured marrying him was one way to get even with him, but they had 61 years of good marriage, so it all worked out. She was fortunate to live in Kitzingen, Germany for 14 months when Richard was in the US Army.

Once they started having children, she quit teaching and became a domestic engineer, aka mother/farm wife. In 1986, she went to work for Hav-it Adult Services as a residential manager. If she had to pick, this was her favorite job of all. She loved working with the clients. She retired from Hav-it at the age of 65, but just couldn't leave, so she worked as a sub until she turned 80.

One of her all-time favorite things to do was working in her flower garden, which was her peaceful place. With God's hand, she always had the most beautiful flowers.

Joyce was a member of the Martin Baptist Church.  She was also an extremely loyal NDSU Bison fan. One of the best days of her life was when she got to attend a Bison game for her 86 ^th birthday.

Joyce had the gift of gab and loved visiting with people. A gentleman at senior housing where she lived could never remember her name, so he nicknamed her Gabby. That couldn't have been more fitting.

Joyce will be deeply missed by her survivors: Son, Rick (Marci) Eckart, Harvey; 3 daughters, Niki (Dale) Roed, Minot, Robin (Todd) Stephens, Bismarck,  Holly (Darin) Keeping, Fargo; 10 grandchildren, Hope (Mike) Tietz, Bismarck, Brady (Stephanie) Eckart, Harvey, Andy (Libbi) Roed, Hawaii, Brandon (Terri) Reidman, Mohall, Heather (Jedd) McCollum, West Fargo, Tanner (Erin) Reidman, Bismarck, Kristi Hess, Minot, Kelsey (Andrew) Mittleider, Tappen, Riley (Brittney) Eckart, Williston, and Riley Keeping, Fargo; 12 great grandchildren, Falyn and Kellan Reidman, Mia McCollum, Liam, Katie, and Evelyn Eckart, Cooper and Niles Hess, Harvey and Hewitt Reidman, Milo Mittleider, and River Eckart; her in-laws, Mary Ann and Marvin Michelson, and Cleo Bender; and many nieces, nephews, cousins, and a host of friends. She was preceded in death by her husband who died on December 8,2015; parents, siblings and their spouses.