Joyce May Alton was born in Macksville, Kansas on July 27, 1925 to Ralph and Edna Alton.  She was the youngest child and only girl after brothers George and Billy.  Her family left Macksville and moved to land on the Cimarron River in Baca County Colorado when Joyce was a little girl during the Depression.  For quite a few years they lived in the cookshack that they had pulled from Kansas with a tractor.

As a girl Joyce spent a lot of time riding her horse, Beauty, picnicking with the animals and spending time with Mother Nature. On one of these excursions, she dropped her little play makeup kit in a crack in a fence post and most likely it is still there today.

She rode her horse to the Butcher School through primary school before attending Vilas for high school.  During high school at Vilas, she met her future husband, Earl Konkel.  One day Earl whispered in her ear that he wanted to tell her something then he gave her a kiss behind the locker door.

When Joyce was 19, she and Earl eloped to Stratford, Texas before moving near Vilas so Earl could help on his family's farm.  Joyce and Earl had their first child, Connie Konkel in 1946, followed by Mark in 1949 and Dane in 1951.  They raised Connie, Mark and Dane in the Butcher area where they raised and custom cut broomcorn before moving to Elkhart, Kansas.  Tracy was born in Elkhart in 1962.  Two years later they moved to Hugoton, Kansas where they had Jan in 1964 and Robyn in 1968.  After the birth of Robyn, they moved to Liberal where Mark and Dane graduated before moving to Dodge City, Kansas in 1969 and on to Garden City, Kansas in 1971 where they ran a custom haying business.  Joyce and Earl moved to Casper, Wyoming in 1977 where they resided until Earl passed in 1986.  Joyce remained in Casper until she moved to live with oldest son, Mark, in Farmington, New Mexico in 1995.  She lived with Mark in the Farmington area until his death in 2015, at which time she lived with granddaughter, Monique de Moulin, in Casper for nearly 2 years.  Her final move was to Shepherd of the Valley Nursing Home in Casper where she spent her last years under their care until her passing on September 1, 2021.

She was predeceased by her husband, Earl, her dad Ralph Alton, mom Edna Alton, brother George Alton, brother Billy Alton and son Mark Konkel.

Surviving are her children Connie Mann, Dane Konkel (Pattie), Tracy Konkel (Pat), Jan de Moulin and Robyn Konkel.  Grandchildren Rex Mann (Sherry), Artt Mann (Lorna), Lance Mann (Nedra), Layne Konkel, Staci Konkel (Jeff), Jaime Konkel (Chago), Jason de Moulin, Monique Okeke (Uche) Christopher Konkel (Tara).  Great grandchildren Tomas Konkel, Izaiha de Moulin, DeAngelo de Moulin, Hunter Konkel,  Trystan Konkel, Warner Martin, Deacon Martin, Payton Konkel, Tajon Latta and Matias Latta.

Great great grandbaby Nehemiah de Moulin and two more great grand babies on the way.

She professed in November 1951 at age 26 in Baca County at Butcher School House through workers Dale Spencer and Alex Anderson.  God and truth were her life and she was a wonderful example of Loving the Lord and it showed in the love she had for her children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and family in body and family in spirit and truth.  She truly left a life legacy of strength for those left here on earth.  She continued to show her love for others at the Shepherd of the Valley and would walk around the halls and kiss and hug others and tell them she loved them and made a lot of the residents and staff feel joy.  They would call her "Sweet Joyce".  Even though with her dementia she struggled at the end, her sweet spirit was evident and the nurses and staff who know always talked about how much love they had in their hearts for her.