Obituary of Joyce Baxter

Joyce A'Rae Baxter was born on November 16, 1932 to Marion and Elaine (Griffith) Higginbotham, in Kelly Lake, Minnesota. After the loss of her father Marion, who eventually succumbed to wounds incurred in WWII in the battle of the bulge, her mother remarried a railroad man named John Korhonen. Joyce and her sister Marlene (Mitzi) spent several summers traveling on the outfit cars of the Great Northern Railroad as teenagers. Joyce and her sister also lived with their grandmother, Alma McKee for a time. Shortly after the loss of her mother to cancer, Joyce met Richard Clinton Baxter at the Black Cat Café in Kelly Lake, where Joyce worked as a waitress. Richard (Max) worked in the Iron Ore Mines and raced stock cars with the café being one of his sponsors. After a year of romance, Richard and Joyce purchased a marriage license but their wedding plans were foiled in Hibbing. So on October 17th, 1953, on their way to Cambridge to visit family, they spontaneously stopped in Mora, Minnesota where they secured the services of the Justice of the Peace and a city police officer and his wife as witnesses and tied the knot. After their marriage, they continued to live in Kelly Lake for a few years and moved to Cambridge in 1955. In 1956 they moved to their present location West of Cambridge, where they built their own house. Because of his years in the air force as a radar technician, Richard was told he could not have children. Joyce surprised him with the birth of four children. Joyce loved her home, and cherished raising her children. The family attended the Oxlip Evangelical Free Church for many years. She worked for several years at the Leader Store in Cambridge. After the graduation of their children, Joyce and Richard took in numerous foster children of which several have become part of the family. Joyce delighted in her many children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. She also delighted in having daily coffee with her best friend of 48 years, Norma Anderson. In recent years Joyce had struggled with declining health. Her family honored her wishes and placed her on home hospice care. After reviving to see her many family and friends during the Thanksgiving season, she was peacefully promoted to glory surrounded by family and friends in her home at 4:15 PM on Tuesday, November 30th. She was preceded in death by her parents, step-father, sister, one grandson and one great grandchild. She is survived by her husband Richard, children Rick (Delsie), Cheryl (Dave), Terry (Debby), Connie (Terry), Daniel (Angelica), Julie (Bill), Melissa (Dave), Matthew, and many grandchildren and great grandchildren.