Joyce Wolf

Margaret Joyce Wolf passed away Tuesday, November 30, 2021. A graveside service will be 11:00 am, Monday, December 20, at Memorial Park Cemetery in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with Rev. Deron Spoo officiating. Visitation will be 2:00 pm-4:00 p.m., Saturday, December 18, at Wilkirson-Hatch-Bailey Funeral Home in Waco. Joyce was born April 1, 1926, in Birmingham, Alabama, to Robert Smith Burgins and Myrtle Olive Sexton Burgins. Joyce was the third of their four children. After graduating from Woodlawn High School, she worked as an executive secretary at a local oil company. In August 1950, she rode the train to Fort Worth, Texas, to pursue an associate’s degree at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. She joined University Baptist Church and worked as a secretary to the pastoral staff. At the end of her first year, a generous church member encouraged her to attend Texas Christian University and earn her bachelor’s degree. On May 31, 1953, Joyce graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in English. The following fall, she returned to the seminary to continue her studies in religion. On May 13, 1955, Joyce graduated with a Master of Religious Education. After graduating, Joyce accepted a position with the Baptist Building in Dallas, Texas. While serving as a department director for the Intermediate Department at Gaston Avenue Baptist Church, Joyce met her future husband Ed Wolf. However, prior to their engagement, Joyce felt called to return to her home church in Birmingham, Alabama, and serve on staff as a youth minister. On a return trip to Dallas, Ed proposed. They married on November 24, 1956, at the Woodlawn Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, and returned to Dallas after a brief honeymoon in Florida. Joyce encouraged Ed to return to school on the G.I. Bill and finish his degree. They moved to Austin, where Ed enrolled in the University of Texas and Joyce worked as a secretary to the Dean of Graduate Studies. They lived in old army barracks converted to married student housing! Upon the completion of Ed’s degree, they returned to Dallas. Joyce began teaching seventh grade Texas history and the couple continued to teach Sunday School at Gaston Avenue Baptist Church. In March 1963, they welcomed home a baby son: Robert E. Wolf. Joyce delighted in motherhood and from that moment on, she focused on family life and church work. The family relocated Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1968. First Baptist Church became their church home. Joyce dearly loved the Lord and was passionate about serving in the church. She was a Sunday School teacher all of her adult life and served in numerous leadership positions in the church. Joyce was also an ardent supporter of both local and foreign missions. Towards the end of their 32 years in Tulsa, she became a caregiver to her aging parents. Eventually, Ed and Joyce decided to live near their son Bob and enjoy watching their grandsons grow up. In 2001, they moved to Paducah, Kentucky, and then followed the family to Waco, Texas in 2003. Indeed, she was a vibrant part of each of her grandsons’ lives! Ed and Joyce were active in Columbus Avenue Baptist Church for many years until Joyce’s health declined. She was currently a member of Woodway First Baptist Church. She was preceded in death by her parents; her brother, Robert Scott Burgins; and her sisters, Helen Burgins Heard and Elizabeth Burgins Parker. She is survived by her loving husband of 65 years, Edward E. Wolf; her beloved son, Dr. Robert E. Wolf (Bob) and his wife Karen; and her four grandsons, William Hunter Wolf and his wife, Lana, Grayson Scott Wolf and his wife, Alyssa, Robert Chase Wolf, and Harrison Paul Wolf. She also leaves behind numerous nieces and nephews. Honorary pallbearers are Hunter Wolf, Grayson Wolf, Chase Wolf, Harrison Wolf, Steve Dial, and Karl Dial. Memorials may be made to Mission Waco, Samaritan’s Purse, or to any mission program in your local church.