Mary Eileen Joyce, age 81, passed away peacefully on January 20th with her husband Frank Joyce and daughter Betsy Church by her side. Eileen was the daughter of Robert Mudd and Evelyn Scharnikow Mudd. She is survived by her husband of 63 years, Franklin A. Joyce, along with her five children, Patricia Calpin, Susan Myers, Franklin Joyce, Jr., Judith Wrenn and Betsy Church. Eight grandchildren - Keith Matthew Elliott, Ryan Wrenn, Jennifer Elliott, Shelby LaTurno, Bethany Myers, Hunter Church and Morgan Church - and five great grandchildren - Matthew Elliott, Kristopher Elliott, Marley Elliott, Norah Elliott and Teague LaTurno - also mourn her passing.

Eileen was born in Washington, DC on December 19th, 1934, the second of four children born to Robert and Evelyn Mudd. She - along with her older sister Rita and younger siblings Rosemary and Bob - grew up in the nation's capital during the waning years of the Great Depression, the rationing and frequent blackouts of the Second World War and the boom of the post-war era.

In 1950 she met Franklin Joyce at a Knights of Columbus dance in downtown DC, though they would not go on their first date together until the following September.

Frank proposed as soon as Eileen finished high school and the two were married four months later on October 30th, 1952. Frank's deployment in the United States Navy took the young couple to Jacksonville and Memphis, though they made it back to the DC area in time to have their first child, Patricia, in 1953. They would settle in Arlington and remain there for the next fifty years.

Susan followed in 1954, then Frank, Jr in 1956. They moved into the house on Powhatan Street that Eileen would call home the longest on the same day that her fourth child, Judith, was born in 1960.

With Frank, Sr. taking ownership of his father's car repair business upon his return to the area, the responsibility of caring for and raising the four kids fell mostly to Eileen. Undeterred by almost two decades of such efforts, she welcomed her fifth and final child, Betsy, into the world in 1972.

Compassion and patience were virtues that ran deep with Eileen, and consequently she felt compelled to help Arlington's Westover Baptist with their preschool and nursery programs in her free time. She would spend 11 years working with the church.

While childcare was Eileen's most remarkable accomplishment, it was not her only interest. At various times over the years she nurtured passions for bowling, painting, the card game bunco, collecting miniature houses and traveling, while also having an abiding adoration of the work of artist Thomas Kinkade and the thrillers of novelist Dan Brown.

She and Frank moved to Ashburn in 2003 to be closer to her children, all of which continue to spend at least part of their time in the DC area. She's since enjoyed trips to Bermuda, the United Kingdom and Mexico, while also becoming an active participant in her local community.

Few who spent time with Eileen Joyce came away anything less than charmed. Her soft spoken nature belied a passion for her family and life itself, one that would rise to the surface when asked about her grandchildren or the hit songs and movies of her own childhood. Though she was too modest to have ever admitted it herself, it was such enthusiasm - along with hefty doses of wisdom, worldliness and insight - that frequently acted as a guiding light for the entire family, and will continue to do so for many more years to come.

Eileen was surrounded by her husband, children and son-in-law Jim Wrenn in the weeks before her passing, each of whom did their part to care for her as she had once cared for them.

Per her wishes, the family will be holding a Celebration of her Life on January 30, 2016 from 2pm to 4 pm at the Mills Center, 43895 Grottos Drive, Ashburn, VA 20147.

In lieu of flower the family requests that memorial contributions be sent to St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105.