Joyce Bapp, who was born in Glasgow, MT on February 9, 1937, to Floyd and Maybelle (Smith) Reese, passed away in her home on May 7, 2022, from a courageous battle with lung cancer.

A funeral service will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, May 17, 2022, at Hillcrest Lawn Memorial Chapel with entombment immediately following the service at Hillcrest Lawn Mausoleum.

The family moved to Malta, MT in 1938. After her mother’s death when Joyce was eight, she was raised by her older sister, Elsie. She attended nine different schools and graduated in 1955 from Malta High School. Joyce married Elwyn Bapp on August 13, 1955, at the Little White Church in Malta. They moved to Wisconsin for a short time before coming back to Montana when Elwyn went to work for Buttrey Foods in Cut Bank in October 1955. Joyce worked at Glacier County Bank during that time. Her husband was transferred to Havre in 1957. There she worked at Valley Motor Supply until they moved to Missoula in 1958 where she worked Southside Bank of Missoula. They moved to Anaconda in March 1961, and their daughter was born in Butte in 1961. Their son was born in Anaconda in 1964. They moved to Great Falls in 1965, and she became a full-time housewife and mother.

She was active in her daughter’s Girl Scouts and music, her son’s Little League and Legion Baseball, youth hockey and PTA. She was an avid sports fan of the Colorado Avalanche, Denver Broncos, and Great Falls Pioneer League baseball teams. She rarely missed any of the home games at Legion Park or Centene Stadium where she purchased a block during its name change fundraiser with both her son’s Mark and her name on the brick as he had played for the Great Falls Electrics. They are cemented together in the brick for eternity.

Joyce loved to play bridge and games, dance, bowl, yard work, and spend time with her family. She had a sense of humor and could always laugh at herself for silly things. She didn’t like idle gossip and believed the old adage, “if you can’t say something nice about someone, then don’t say anything at all.”

She also loved her little Pomeranian dogs, Peppy, Inky, Punkin, and Tebow who was her constant companion up to five days before her death. She also loved her daughter’s dog, Bambi.

She was preceded in death by her husband in 1997; her parents; brothers, Vern and Earl Carlson; and sister, Elsie Henry. She is survived by a son, Mark Bapp of Arvada, CO; an estranged daughter of Great Falls; grandson, Dustin Tempel of Great Falls; granddaughter of Bozeman; five great-grandchildren of Great Falls and Bozeman; a special nephew, Kelly (Tery) Henry of Benton City, WA; and nieces, Micky Richmond of Pomeroy WA and Dixie Kingery of Helena; as well as many other nieces and nephews who she loved also. Even though she was distanced from some of her family, she never stopped loving them and always remembered all the good times.

In lieu of flowers, please spend cherished time with family, as time is precious and life is fleeting. Donations to Peace Hospice if you so desire.