Joyce E. Holmquist

Joyce Eleen was born to David and Anna Marie (Bengtson) Hedlund, their fifth child. While Joyce was still an infant, her family moved to Alpine, Manitoba. She attended Covenant Bible Institute in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, where she met Helge Hamilton. They were married in 1945 and subsequently moved to Chicago, Illinois where Helge attended North Park College and Theological Seminary. They entered the mission field and served in Yakutat, Alaska from 1948 to 1954. From 1954 to 1964, they served at the Covenant Mountain Mission in Jonesville, Virginia. They had 5 children. One child died at birth and Rosemary died in 1960 at age 7. From Virginia, they went to Minnesota, where Helge did interim pastoral work, and then returned to Canada to teach at Covenant Bible College. In 1971, they went to Bethany Covenant Church in Brainerd, Minnesota, where Helge served as pastor. During that time, Joyce developed her artistic skills, graduating from Brainerd Junior College with an associate degree in Fine Arts in 1976. Joyce worked as a medical secretary at various hospitals in the Minneapolis area, and in Brainerd. Helge passed away in January 1982. In December 1984, she married Bill Holmquist of Little Falls and joined him in active membership at Grace Covenant Church. Joyce wrote a detailed family history during the 1980’s and 1990’s. She studied painting from instructor Charles Kapsner, in Little Falls. She did many oil paintings and watercolors, especially of flowers, and won awards in several local art shows. She said, “Painting sharpens one’s ability to observe deeply, and enjoy more fully, what God has created.” Bill and Joyce moved to Covenant Village in Golden Valley in 2006, and Bill died in January 2008. Joyce is survived by one son and two daughters: David Hamilton, his wife Beth and their sons Karl and Matthew of Lakeville, MN; Ruth Hamilton of Oakland, CA and Rachel Doyle, her husband Ed of Midlothian, VA, and their son John, his wife Joan, and three great-grandchildren, Aaron, Mikayla, and Colleen, of Ruther Glen, VA. She is also survived by numerous cousins, nieces and nephews in Minnesota and Canada, and her Uncle Gilbert Olson, age 100, from Warren, MN. Memorials preferred to: Amundson Education Center in Soldotna, AK , Covenant World Missions, Grace Covenant Church, Little Falls, MN.

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Joyce E. Holmquist

May 28, 1923 - January 23, 2010