Cleo “Joyce” Noonan, former longtime Hermiston resident, passed away on June 6, 2021 in Port Orchard, Wash., just short of her 91st birthday. She spent her last few years at the Washington Veterans Home at Retsil, Wash.
Mrs. Noonan was born Cleo Joyce Fagan in Elizabeth, Colo. on July 26, 1930 to William and Ruth Fagan.
In 1949, she married James Kelly in Hermiston and eventually had five sons and one daughter.
She did all the things a homemaker and mother did — driving kids to baseball and wrestling practice, games, concerts, band, church functions, chorus competitions and camps. She worked as a camp teacher and served her church as a teacher.
Music was an important part of Mrs. Noonan’s life. Her children were all musically inclined and she often joined them in singalongs. She also sang in church and community choirs. She worked as a teacher’s aide, a school bus driver, a beautician and a retail salesclerk.
In 1981, she married John Noonan and moved to Port Orchard in 1984. Mr. Noonan passed away from cancer in 1989.
Her favorite pastime besides music was square dancing, and she could often be seen kicking up her heels in her square-dancing frocks and serving as an officer for the Peninsula Council, serving 12 square dancing clubs.
Mrs. Noonan has 22 grandchildren and 29 great grandchildren. She is survived by her sons Clinton, Paul, Timothy, Michael and Danial, and her daughter Linda.
A memorial service will be held on June 26 at 3 p.m. in the First Christian Church, 775 W. Highland Ave., Hermiston.
Please share memories of Joyce with her family at burnsmortuaryhermiston.com.
Burns Mortuary of Hermiston is in care of arrangements.
