Joyce Evelyn Johnson was born on Nov. 2, 1942, in Birmingham, Alabama, to Jim and Oneida Johnson. She was the fifth of ten children born to their union.
She moved to Seattle, WA in 1956 with her parents & eight siblings. In 1957, the entire family joined Bethel Christian Methodist Episcopal Church (CME), now known as Curry Temple CME Church. For over seventy years, Joyce never transferred her church membership. She remained a member of Curry Temple out of respect for her father’s work & her family’s years of service to the church. God was always central to Joyce’s life & she served Him faithfully through-out those decades. She believed that church attendance was only one aspect of service—working in church was the other—& she lived that belief daily. She was intentional in teaching her children & grandchildren the importance of faith, commitment, & service to God.
On April 5, 1969, she united in marriage with Ravyton Clark, Sr. & God blessed their union with two children: Dana Rae & Ravyton, Jr.
Joyce’s professional life reflected her dedication & strong work ethic. Joyce was employed by Old National Bank & The Seattle Times before beginning a long career in 1986 with The Boeing Company.
Joyce was deeply committed to community & civic engagement. From 1983—1985 she founded & operated the Skyway Drill Team. She was instrumental in the organization & development of Skyway’s FED-UP (Families Eliminating the Drug Using Population). She was an original board member of the West Hill Council, supporting the neighborhood where she raised her children. And then, from 1996—2001 Joyce served as the first Black woman in Washington to serve as Water Commissioner, serving a 2nd term from 2006-2011. In 2015, she was elected Treasurer of the Skyway Water & Sewer District.
One of Joyce’s proudest areas of service was her work with the NAACP. She served as Secretary of the Seattle Branch under the leadership of Oscar Eason from at least 1998 to 2002. She was an active participant of WIN (Women in the NAACP) & deeply involved in ACT-SO, a pro-gram that encourages African American students to strive for excellence.
Joyce was preceded in death by her parents; her siblings Gladys Jordan, James Johnson, June Faulks, Gerri LaMarche, Janet Hightower, Carolyn Johnson & Reginald Johnson; nephews and a niece. sisters-in-law Alice Faye Johnson & Mary Johnson, brothers-in-law Daniel Jordan, Curtis Hightower, Mark Conway, & her son-in-law David Shaw.
Left to mourn & cherish her memory are her children Dana Rae Clark, Ravyton Clark, Jr. (Marla Ann) & Brian Isaiah Johnson; her surviving siblings Benjamin Johnson (Sandra), Sherri Conway, brother & sister-in-law, Curtis Faulks, Sr. & Carla Bunn; grandchildren Dranel Armahn Russell, David J. Shaw, Jr., Ravyton Clark, III, Donovan Ray Shaw, Christian Ray Clark, Cruz Angelo Russell & Camilo Armahn Russell, & a host of nieces, nephews, cousins & other close relatives & friends.
