JOYCE LUKKES
Joyce (Talsma) Lukkes, 90, of Springfield died Tuesday, June 6, 2023 at the Alpine Village in Verdigre, NE. Her funeral service will be held Thursday, June 15 at 10:30 a.m. at the Friedensberg Bible Church in rural Avon. Burial is in the Pioneer Cemetery in rural Avon. Her visitation will be June 14 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at Peters Funeral Chapel in Springfield.
Joyce (Talsma) Lukkes was born to Ray and Donia Talsma on March 9, 1933 at the family home west of Springfield. She attended various country schools depending on where the family was living at the time. An incident that she recalls, during early elementary years, involved her walking home from school with her little brother Merle and sister Mollie, on an afternoon with a pending hailstorm. She recalled a seemingly stern neighbor ordering she, Molly, and Merle into his house where they waited out the egg sized hail storm. The neighbor kindly gave them a rare auto ride home.
Joyce graduated from Springfield High School in 1951 and was married to Darrell Lukkes for the following seven years. After living several years in California, she return to Springfield and worked at the Springfield State Bank for two years prior to starting her college education. She graduated from Northwestern College at Orange City, Iowa in 1969 with a degree in Social Services. After graduation she worked in Sioux County, Iowa in social services, primarily in foster care, adoption and juvenile probation. With a re-organization of that office she found herself unemployed and moved to Denver, Colorado where she worked for one year at the Native American Urban Transition Program. Returning to South Dakota, Joyce assisted with the care of her elderly Aunt Martha, before moving to North Platte, Nebraska in 1983, being employed there as an adoption worker for the Nebraska Children’s Home Society until 1995. Having acquired many new friends and involvements, she went on a short term mission trip to Moscow, Russia. On returning she was more than quite content to never return, but for a distinct call from God upon her life. In 1997 she moved to Moscow, Russia, where she found, despite many obstacles, one of her greatest pleasures and satisfactions of life.
Returning to South Dakota for a few months most every summer, her family remembers her seemingly urgent need to return to Moscow every fall. Her mission there involved an English speaking elementary school, Hinkson Christian Academy.
Returning for a final time from Russia to Springfield in 2010, she lived among her very treasured family until her peaceful death on June 6, 2023. Among that family, her parents and brothers Merle, Pete and Larry preceded her in death.
Joyce is survived by five additional siblings: Mollie Nichols, Rose Adema, John(Gladys), Bob (Mary), and Lyla Brandt (Dennis); and sisters-in-law, Tommie Talsma and Georgia Talsma. Her family wishes to extend great appreciation to sister-in-law, Gladys who was so very kind in extending personal attention to Joyce in her declining years. Joyce is remembered by her family for her love of close relationships and concerns for others wherever she found them.
Joyce gained great peace and satisfaction in knowing the Lord Jesus Christ as her Savior. She encountered the Lord Jesus as a result of her mother’s reading of Bible stories to she and her siblings as a child. One of her last and greatest wishes is that each of us would know the Lord Jesus as our Savior and she could therefore, greet you in heaven at your given time. In lieu of flowers, memorials will be directed to Friedensberg Bible church and missions.