Joyce Harris
d. September 16, 2017
Joyce Harris
Joyce Pollnow Harris was born in Wisconsin sometime before or during the Cold War. She had a middle name; however, she was not fond of it so we will say it started with one of the 26 letters of the English Alphabet.
When she was in her early teens her father had a "brain attack" and his physician advised him to move to a warmer climate to "thin his blood" so the family left their farm and moved to Arkansas. She spent the remainder of her youth in the Arch Street area of Pulaski County and graduated from Central High School in Little Rock.
She had many adventures in her lifetime and talked about them frequently over a warm cup of coffee, half full, loaded with cream. Some might say she liked a little coffee with her cream, something she likely acquired a taste for having been reared in the Dairy State.
After high school, she went to work for Bell Telephone for a time until she married and moved to Tennessee. That relationship having fizzled, she came back home to her family in Arkansas.
Shortly after returning to Arkansas she became frustrated with the direction life was taking her. She was working in sales for a long forgotten company and driving a company vehicle. In her words: "It was junk. It was a new car but it was a lemon. One day I was taking it through a car wash when the top rails of the car wash broke and fell down on top of the car. I climbed out through the back seat, left the keys in it and walked away. I told the company where they could find it and I went to the Florida Keys. I got a job on an ocean freighter as a cook and traveled around the world for a while."
She eventually made her way back to Arkansas where she had a chance encounter with a man named Bob. She was attending church and had caught a glimpse of him. In his words, "she was like a dream, just a gorgeous blonde." Little did Bob know, Joyce had taken a shine to him as well. The following Sunday she asked him to sit with her during the service. Bob was on cloud nine. As he said, "my heart was beating out of my chest! I couldn't believe this gorgeous woman wanted me to sit with her!" Bob got up the nerve to ask her out on a bicycle ride and she accepted. At one point he asked her back to his apartment and showed her an ornate table he had just finished building. Joyce promptly dropped to the floor and began inspecting the table; every groove, corner, fit, and junction. As Bob says, that's when he knew she was "the one". That was in 1974.
Just one week later, Joyce announced she would be leaving for Mexico to help her brother in his ministry for a while. She asked Bob if he would watch her place while she was gone. Bob came to know her family well and cared for her ailing father until her brother, Cliff, and his family returned from Mexico. Bob and Joyce were inseparable from that time forward.
While Bob knew within the first few days that Joyce was the one for him, she was not entirely convinced. It took her much longer, not because she didn't care for him, but because she guarded her heart well. She loved others dearly; however, she rarely let others into the intimate part of her world.
They had both moved to a small piece of property in Northwest Pulaski County, Bob in his travel trailer and Joyce in her mobile home, in 1979. Although they had purchased property together, it wasn't until Joyce was rear-ended in a motor vehicle accident and seriously injured that she realized Bob's love for her. As she said: "When I finally opened my eyes, laying there in that hospital room, I didn't know where I was or what had happened. I was in a panic at first until I saw Bob; and when he looked into my eyes, his eyes full of tears, and he whispered, ‘I thought I lost you', it was then I knew without a doubt that man loved me. It was then that I knew I had found ‘the one' and I gave in. The next time he mentioned marriage I accepted."
They married at the end of December, 1984 and didn't tell anyone they had married. On their wedding night, Joyce's sister, Marilyn, spent the night with them and didn't know they had gotten married. Surely there was a battery of questions! When asked how people found out, Bob said his son, Doug, a teenager at the time, had read the announcement in the newspaper.
Joyce had a knack for finding a way to make things happen. She dreamed big and small and whatever she dreamed up, she found a way to make it happen, and always through hard work. This could easily be seen in her muscular stature and large, strong hands.
They cleared the land and began construction on their house in 1983 and Joyce "worked harder than any man" Bob had ever seen. She would climb the scaffolding, hang fixtures, install siding, run wires and hammer nails. They worked day, night and weekend for four years. Because they both worked all the time, they always met at restaurants for their meals. They joked that they didn't need to build a kitchen, just install a vending machine.
Just after they finished the house, in 1988, Bob was at Windsor Door when he was called to the front desk. The receptionist handed him a set of keys to a brand new Isuzu truck. Joyce had left the keys to surprise him and disappeared. She did this type of thing often. Bob never knew what was going to be in the driveway or house when he got home.
Joyce worked in sales for various companies from cosmetics and American Greeting Cards, to the trucking industry where she worked for various companies such as ABF, Jones, OverNite and Humbolt. She retired in the mid 1990's to take care of her mother.
She was a problem solver. Once, Bob became frustrated with trying to remove a radiator from a motorhome and stormed into the house seething. A short while later he went back outside to find Joyce sitting in a chair and the radiator lying on the ground. He asked how she got it out and she said she jacked the motorhome up and took it out the bottom rather than trying to get it out of the top like Bob had been trying to do.
She also tried out for the Minor League in North Little Rock. She was a Southpaw so she knew she had a good chance. Her whole family was gathered at the Golden Corral for the event. They had a special room and everyone had become a bit serious. Joyce didn't like serious so she grabbed a bun from her plate and pitched it straight across the room and hit her target (Daniel) square in the forehead. A food fight broke out and they were promptly asked to leave. Of course, Joyce said, "We've been kicked out of much fancier places than this!"
Joyce had a lot of love for a lot of things. Having not been blessed with having biological children, she took in many strays; while most of them were four-legged, there were some that were not. There were a few two legged strays that came for a while then left. When they left, it was discovered they had alias names and were "on the lamb". There were some odd ducks on and off this hill we call home and none have been missed more than Cowboy until now. There have been many laughs, many cries, and many silent moments just sharing each other's company. Now, those of us left just sit and listen to the quiet nature creeping around us, waiting for a whisper on the breeze, a brush on the cheek, from a woman so loved by so many yet too humble to realize how much. Now, we sit with a cup of coffee, half full, loaded with cream and smile as her sweet memories fill our hearts like a warm hearth on a cold winter's night.
In proper fashion, when an angel earns her wings, we will be having a Promotion Party on Tuesday, September 26, 2017 from 6-8 p.m. at the Little Rock Funeral Home located at the corner of John Barrow Road and Interstate 630 in Little Rock. 8801 Knoedl Ct., (501)224-2200.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Joyce's name either to the Humane Society of Pulaski County or to Drive Away Cancer at 1102 Abercorn Place, Sherwood, AR, 72120.
8801 Knoedl Ct
Little Rock, AR, 72205
When she was in her early teens her father had a "brain attack" and his physician advised him to move to a warmer climate to "thin his blood" so the family left their farm and moved to Arkansas. She spent the remainder of her youth in the Arch Street area of Pulaski County and graduated from Central High School in Little Rock.
She had many adventures in her lifetime and talked about them frequently over a warm cup of coffee, half full, loaded with cream. Some might say she liked a little coffee with her cream, something she likely acquired a taste for having been reared in the Dairy State.
After high school, she went to work for Bell Telephone for a time until she married and moved to Tennessee. That relationship having fizzled, she came back home to her family in Arkansas.
Shortly after returning to Arkansas she became frustrated with the direction life was taking her. She was working in sales for a long forgotten company and driving a company vehicle. In her words: "It was junk. It was a new car but it was a lemon. One day I was taking it through a car wash when the top rails of the car wash broke and fell down on top of the car. I climbed out through the back seat, left the keys in it and walked away. I told the company where they could find it and I went to the Florida Keys. I got a job on an ocean freighter as a cook and traveled around the world for a while."
She eventually made her way back to Arkansas where she had a chance encounter with a man named Bob. She was attending church and had caught a glimpse of him. In his words, "she was like a dream, just a gorgeous blonde." Little did Bob know, Joyce had taken a shine to him as well. The following Sunday she asked him to sit with her during the service. Bob was on cloud nine. As he said, "my heart was beating out of my chest! I couldn't believe this gorgeous woman wanted me to sit with her!" Bob got up the nerve to ask her out on a bicycle ride and she accepted. At one point he asked her back to his apartment and showed her an ornate table he had just finished building. Joyce promptly dropped to the floor and began inspecting the table; every groove, corner, fit, and junction. As Bob says, that's when he knew she was "the one". That was in 1974.
Just one week later, Joyce announced she would be leaving for Mexico to help her brother in his ministry for a while. She asked Bob if he would watch her place while she was gone. Bob came to know her family well and cared for her ailing father until her brother, Cliff, and his family returned from Mexico. Bob and Joyce were inseparable from that time forward.
While Bob knew within the first few days that Joyce was the one for him, she was not entirely convinced. It took her much longer, not because she didn't care for him, but because she guarded her heart well. She loved others dearly; however, she rarely let others into the intimate part of her world.
They had both moved to a small piece of property in Northwest Pulaski County, Bob in his travel trailer and Joyce in her mobile home, in 1979. Although they had purchased property together, it wasn't until Joyce was rear-ended in a motor vehicle accident and seriously injured that she realized Bob's love for her. As she said: "When I finally opened my eyes, laying there in that hospital room, I didn't know where I was or what had happened. I was in a panic at first until I saw Bob; and when he looked into my eyes, his eyes full of tears, and he whispered, ‘I thought I lost you', it was then I knew without a doubt that man loved me. It was then that I knew I had found ‘the one' and I gave in. The next time he mentioned marriage I accepted."
They married at the end of December, 1984 and didn't tell anyone they had married. On their wedding night, Joyce's sister, Marilyn, spent the night with them and didn't know they had gotten married. Surely there was a battery of questions! When asked how people found out, Bob said his son, Doug, a teenager at the time, had read the announcement in the newspaper.
Joyce had a knack for finding a way to make things happen. She dreamed big and small and whatever she dreamed up, she found a way to make it happen, and always through hard work. This could easily be seen in her muscular stature and large, strong hands.
They cleared the land and began construction on their house in 1983 and Joyce "worked harder than any man" Bob had ever seen. She would climb the scaffolding, hang fixtures, install siding, run wires and hammer nails. They worked day, night and weekend for four years. Because they both worked all the time, they always met at restaurants for their meals. They joked that they didn't need to build a kitchen, just install a vending machine.
Just after they finished the house, in 1988, Bob was at Windsor Door when he was called to the front desk. The receptionist handed him a set of keys to a brand new Isuzu truck. Joyce had left the keys to surprise him and disappeared. She did this type of thing often. Bob never knew what was going to be in the driveway or house when he got home.
Joyce worked in sales for various companies from cosmetics and American Greeting Cards, to the trucking industry where she worked for various companies such as ABF, Jones, OverNite and Humbolt. She retired in the mid 1990's to take care of her mother.
She was a problem solver. Once, Bob became frustrated with trying to remove a radiator from a motorhome and stormed into the house seething. A short while later he went back outside to find Joyce sitting in a chair and the radiator lying on the ground. He asked how she got it out and she said she jacked the motorhome up and took it out the bottom rather than trying to get it out of the top like Bob had been trying to do.
She also tried out for the Minor League in North Little Rock. She was a Southpaw so she knew she had a good chance. Her whole family was gathered at the Golden Corral for the event. They had a special room and everyone had become a bit serious. Joyce didn't like serious so she grabbed a bun from her plate and pitched it straight across the room and hit her target (Daniel) square in the forehead. A food fight broke out and they were promptly asked to leave. Of course, Joyce said, "We've been kicked out of much fancier places than this!"
Joyce had a lot of love for a lot of things. Having not been blessed with having biological children, she took in many strays; while most of them were four-legged, there were some that were not. There were a few two legged strays that came for a while then left. When they left, it was discovered they had alias names and were "on the lamb". There were some odd ducks on and off this hill we call home and none have been missed more than Cowboy until now. There have been many laughs, many cries, and many silent moments just sharing each other's company. Now, those of us left just sit and listen to the quiet nature creeping around us, waiting for a whisper on the breeze, a brush on the cheek, from a woman so loved by so many yet too humble to realize how much. Now, we sit with a cup of coffee, half full, loaded with cream and smile as her sweet memories fill our hearts like a warm hearth on a cold winter's night.
In proper fashion, when an angel earns her wings, we will be having a Promotion Party on Tuesday, September 26, 2017 from 6-8 p.m. at the Little Rock Funeral Home located at the corner of John Barrow Road and Interstate 630 in Little Rock. 8801 Knoedl Ct., (501)224-2200.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Joyce's name either to the Humane Society of Pulaski County or to Drive Away Cancer at 1102 Abercorn Place, Sherwood, AR, 72120.
Visitation
SEP 26. 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM (CDT)
Little Rock Funeral Home8801 Knoedl Ct
Little Rock, AR, 72205
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