Joyce Holloway Mckelvy

Joyce Holloway McKelvy Osborn, age 93, died Saturday, January 23, 2020 in Long Beach, California. She was born June 7, 1926 in Long Beach. Joyce was one two children born to Samuel S. Holloway and Doris D. Holloway. Joyce's grandfather, the Reverend Clayton L. Holloway, was a pioneer minister from Pennsylvania who brought his wife and five children to Riverside, California, land of sunshine and orange trees in 1901. The family bought a 40-acre ranch located at 14th and Atlantic Avenue. Later, Reverend Holloway subdivided the area and sold his ranch. He donated land for Trinity Lutheran Church at 8th and Linden Ave. and helped organize the church. After the ranch was divided, the family relocated to 1129 E. Ocean Blvd. where Joyce and her younger brother, Samuel C. Holloway, grew up. Joyce remembers Long Beach as a happy place full of open fields.

Joyce earned a BA degree from UCLA and an MA in education from California State University, Long Beach. After graduating from UCLA, she began teaching in Long Beach as an elementary school teacher where she amassed an impressive record of achievements, that included becoming a Miller-Unruh Reading Specialist. In 1957, she married Roy Jenkins McKelvy, a Compton elementary school principal, and the father of their two girls, Carol and Mary McKelvy. Roy preceded her in death in 2003.

Joyce retired after thirty-five years of teaching in Long Beach. She loved Delta Kappa Gamma, an honorary teacher's society, and in June 21, 2009, the Theta Upsilon Chapter, honored her for "35 years of dedicated academic service". She was also an active delegate to conventions for the Daughters of the American Revolution, and a member of the Retired Teachers Association, and California Heights United Methodist Church.

Joyce considered travel the best education and her desire to learn never paled. After retirement, Joyce and her daughters traveled extensively from India and Kenya, to Greece, Turkey, Scandinavia, and Russia to Egypt and Jordan. Joyce's zest for life also extended to an affinity for dancing and like everything else she did, she was good at it. She joined a square dance class where she met Melvin Nelson Osborn, a Lockheed Martin Aerospace Designer who shared Joyce's penchant for travel and learning. They married in 1996 and until Melvin's death in 2010, the couple traveled throughout the United States and Europe, South American, the Caribbean, Alaska and Hawaii.

Joyce was a dynamic, intelligent, and loving woman from a pioneering family who served the Long Beach community throughout her life. Endowed with a joyful, loving heart, we will always remember Joyce for the mystery and extraordinary beauty and strength of her unforgettable spirit.

Joyce is survived by her two daughters, Carol and Mary McKelvy, and her beloved nieces, nephew, and cousins.

A memorial service will be held at 2:00 p.m. February 1, 2020 at the Memorial Chapel, Forest Lawn Memorial-Parks & Mortuaries, Long Beach California, 1500 East San Antonio Drive, Long Beach California 90807.