Obituary of Joyce Annette Wood
Joyce Annette (Birch) Wood, of St. Maries, Idaho was born on August 25, 1937 to H.E. And Nellie (Kongable) Birch of Guthrie, Oklahoma. She passed away on October 1, 2022 at Schneidmiller Hospice House in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.
Joyce is survived by her daughter, Bobbi (Thompson) Smith (Neil) of St. Maries, Idaho, two granddaughters, Kristin Smith Burns (Nate) of St. Maries, Idaho and Kelly Smith Cox (Jeremiah) of Potlatch, Idaho, and two great grandsons in Idaho. She is also survived by her husband’s daughter, Linda (Wood) Bird (Mark), 3 grandchildren, Doug Bird (Shelly) of Colwich, Kansas, Jeane Lembke (Robert) of Overland Park, Kansas, and Debbie Luckner (Chad) of Clearwater, Kansas, 11 great grandchildren and 3 great, great grandchildren in Kansas. She was preceded in death by her parents, four sisters and one brother, all of Guthrie, Oklahoma and her husband of 25 years, Edwin A. Wood, of Wynnewood, Oklahoma.
Joyce grew up on the family farm and was the youngest of six children. She enjoyed riding horses and competing in rodeo events, 4-H, and FFA. She graduated from Guthrie High School and married her high school sweetheart, Robert E. Thompson in 1955. They had one daughter, Bobbi Jan. While being married to a football coach for 18 years, the family lived in Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Idaho. During that time, Joyce worked for the airlines as a reservation and ticket agent. Her airline experience led to her career in a travel agency, and she opened Travel by Thompson, in Moscow, Idaho in 1971. Joyce’s love of travel became a reality for her when she operated her own successful business as a single woman in the 1970’s. She traveled the world and met her future husband, Eddie Wood, on a trip to Mexico that she organized for the Appaloosa Horse Club. He was the love of her life and they married in 1982. Joyce returned to her earlier roots when she moved to a working cattle ranch in Oklahoma. She and her husband started a longhorn cattle sale management company and traveled extensively throughout the United States conducting longhorn sales. Joyce and Eddie received a True Friends of the Longhorn Industry Award from the International Texas Longhorn Association for their contribution to the longhorn cattle industry. Joyce retired from the cattle sale consignment business after her husband passed away in 2009. She remained on the Pay Day Ranch in Wynnewood, Oklahoma and continued raising longhorn cattle. She sold the ranch in 2018 and moved to Idaho to be near her daughter and grandchildren.
Joyce accomplished many things in her life through her strong will and determination. She was proud of her family and was generous with the gift of her time and caring concern for others. She was a great southern cook and loved having family and friends visit the ranch. She also loved her Standard Poodles and Yorkies who were her lifetime companions. Joyce’s life was one well-lived and as her late husband used to say, “Joyce was the right kind.” Graveside burial will be on the Pay Day Ranch in Wynnewood, Oklahoma.
