Joyce L. Turnbull of Hayward passed away at her residence, Wednesday, January 13, 2021 at the vintage age of 91.

Joyce Louise Nielsen was born on July 17, 1929 in Maywood Park, IL, 1929 the daughter of George and Emma (Gurlick) Nielsen.

Joyce married Emery “Bud” F. Turnbull Junior on October 18, 1947. Joyce always had a vivid account of her family’s winter trek to a dairy farm her parents bought during the Great Depression and how nice it felt wrapped in a down quilt with five brothers and sisters once they arrived in the Moose Lake area, well below zero. The topless silo still stands on Moose Lake Rd. and CTH A. Joyce wore many hats from a cook at Lake School, growing bushels of produce, working a bait, tackle and ice business with her husband, was a waitress for years and created and sold her crafts. Joyce quilted and knitted for several shelters with her late sister Janet Lindholm (Nielsen). She also worked at the Fairfield Mink Farm on Twin Lake Road in the fall and worked early in her life at several local resorts. She and her husband also had a raspberry produce business. She fondly told stories of picking berries in the remote Moose Lake woods right behind the farm. “The Depression was a tough-go up here,” she would often say. “We pulled a lot of stumps with horses!” She loved her flower gardens, her birds and grew roadside day lilies at her home along Twin Lake Road. She attended several area churches. Her last days were fond memories of her life on the farm she never left as they fell like autumn leaves. It was an era, she romantically recollected of steady toil, small local communities, walking to school, maybe, just maybe, a trip into town, the dances in Moose Lake and seasonal hardship, little pay with lots of home-grown grit and spunk, “The good-old-days,” she said days before her passing.

David A. Turnbull of Hayward is her surviving son and was her caregiver. Her daughter Sandy L. Peterson (Turnbull) of Ramsey, Minnesota recently passed away in early December 2020 from Covid-19. Paul Peterson of Anoka, Minnesota and Joe Peterson of Ramsey, Minnesota are her two remaining grandsons.

Due the current pandemic, a small private service for immediate family will happen later for Joyce and her daughter at their request.

Last Update: Jan 15, 2021 4:58 am CST