Joy Crozier Beese, 90, a resident of Silvercrest Assisted Living, Davenport, IA, died Saturday, May 26, 2007 at Genesis Health Center, West Campus after an extended illness.  Services will be held 10:00 a.m. Tuesday, May 29, 2007 at Brosh Chapel in Solon, IA with burial following at the Lisbon Cemetery.  Visitation will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Monday at Brosh Chapel in Solon.

Joy was born July 13, 1916 to Maude and Archie B. Crozier in Knoxville, Iowa.  She graduated from Norway High School and attended Cornell College, Mt. Vernon, Iowa.  Joy was united in marriage to Virgil Beese in 1938.  He died in 1985.

In addition to engaging in farming with her husband in both the Solon and Lisbon areas, Joy taught school for 27 years.  She began teaching in one room country schools and ended her career by teaching third grade for 20 years in the Lisbon Community School District, retiring in 1980.  After Virgil's retirement from farming in 1975, the couple moved to Iowa City.

Joy was an accomplished self-taught artist.  She worked in various media, but preferred to work in oil.  She specialized in landscapes, portraits and renderings of buildings.   For many years she did a small portrait of each student in her class.  Although she never wanted to paint for profit, she occasionally accepted a commission and her paintings are in the homes of many family members and friends.

Joy has been a member of the Lisbon Methodist Church and the First Presbyterian Church of Iowa City where she served as a deacon.  Since moving to the Quad-Cities, she has been a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Davenport.

Joy is survived by her children and their spouses, Dennis (Barbara) Beese, Purcellville, VA, Judith (James) Smith, Bettendorf, IA, and Bill (Sandra) Beese, Herndon, VA, grandchildren Betsy (Tim) Sheridan, Potomac Falls, VA, Sgt. Kirk (Meredith) Beese, Fort Lee, VA, Andreas Beese, Purcellville, VA, Jennifer (Jack) Forsythe, St. Louis, MO, Joan (Eric) Hoch, Ankeny, IA, Sara Beese, Baltimore, MD and Allison Beese, Cambridge, MA, great-grandchildren Madison and Mackenzie Beese, Matthew and Ben Forsythe and Thomas Hoch, sisters Mary Lou Erdahl, Cedar Rapids, IA and Marion (George) Meyer, Solon, IA, sisters-in-law Bernice Crozier, Fairfax, IA and Marie Kale, Huntington Beach, CA and numerous nieces and nephews.  Besides her husband, Joy is preceded in death by her parents and four brothers, Claude, Darrel, Bob and Bill Crozier.

Online condolences may be expressed to the family at www.broshchapel.com.

Memorials may be directed to First Presbyterian Church of Iowa City or the Alzheimer's Association.