Meet Joyce Roberts
Also known as Memaw and Gumdrop the Clown
Also known as Memaw and Gumdrop the Clown
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Joyce Roberts was just 18 and going to college to be a social worker when she met her future husband, Bob, a widower with three children. Two years later she was married and raising four children. Instead of completing her higher education, Joyce embarked on a higher calling as a caregiver, clown and volunteer extraordinaire.
Just 10 years older than Bob's oldest daughter, Joyce became a grandmother by the time she was 30 and would eventually be called "Memaw" by a dozen grandchildren and countless great-grandchildren. Whenever there were grandchildren around, Joyce was sure to have a camera ready. The joy she found in family can be seen in the thousands of photos she lovingly snapped and preserved. While living near Houston in the 1980's, Joyce became inspired by fellow hospice volunteer, Skittles the Clown. Joyce attended clown school and emerged as Gumdrop, a whiteface clown who ministered to terminally ill children and seniors with compassion and balloon animals. She, in turn, inspired Bob to join her in volunteer service as Lonesome, a hobo clown, after they retired and moved to Longview, Texas. When not clowning around in East Texas, Joyce volunteered with Junior Achievement and became a child advocate with CASA. For her service to the community, she was recognized as a Volunteer of the Year by the Greater Longview United Way. Shortly after Bob passed away in 2011, Joyce moved to San Antonio where she was diagnosed with dementia. While the disease has robbed Joyce of her ability to volunteer, she is still able to live semi-independently and continues to be a joy to all who know her. This Wall of Hope page is in tribute to Joyce so that the life she has led and the lives she has changed will never be forgotten. Thank you to the following people for helping
us honor this very special woman! Keith Hamilton & Cynthia Roberts Hamilton Glenda Roberts McDonald Robert "Butch" Roberts, Jr. |
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If you would like to sponsor a stone on the Wall of Hope, visit our Sponsor a Stone page
or contact Cynthia Hamilton by email or phone at (210) 538-0905.
or contact Cynthia Hamilton by email or phone at (210) 538-0905.
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San Antonio Main Campus
16111 Nacogdoches Rd. San Antonio, Texas 78247 (210) 590-2107 |
San Antonio Therapy Outpatient Clinic
15911 Nacogdoches Rd. San Antonio, TX 78247 (210) 599-7733 |
SA Downtown ABA Clinic
333 N. Santa Rosa St. San Antonio, TX 78207 |