Melba Joyce (Copeland) Bacon

In loving memory, Melba Joyce Copeland Bacon departed this life peacefully on Saturday, July 22, 2017 at Rose Haven Retreat with her husband, Norman, at her bedside.

Joyce was born on August 4, 1933 to Joe and Bessie Copeland in Metropolis, Massac County, Illinois. She was raised in Metropolis with her older sister, Joanne and younger brother Glen. She attended Macedonia Baptist Church in her youth, then converted and was baptized in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in early adulthood and remained faithful throughout her life.

She received her formal education from Southern Illinois University, Paducah Junior College and Shawnee Community College.

She married her high school sweetheart, Joe Lindell Pergande, and gave birth to 4 children - Joseph Michael, Beth Ann, Lisa Gaye, and Shawn Patrick Pergande. After the sudden death of her husband, she found employment as a secretary in Metropolis. She married James Rodney Ivey in 1966 and his job moved them to League City, Texas. She gave birth to 2 additional children - Shannon Lance and Heather Amber Ivey. She married Norman Joseph Bacon in 1992 and they resided in League City, Texas, Metropolis, Illinois and Atlanta, Texas.

Joyce worked as a substitute teacher and teacher's aide in the Clear Creek Independent School District for many years.

She was preceded in death by her first husband, Joe L. Pergande, x-husband, James Rodney Ivey, parents Joseph Harold and Bessie Aline Copeland, paternal grandparents Allen Richard and Lura Ann Copeland, maternal grandparents Glenn Allen and Ora Angeline May, her son, Joseph Michael Pergande, and her sister, Joanne Paulsell.

Joyce will be leaving behind her husband, Norman Joseph Bacon of Atlanta, Texas, her children Beth Ann Treece of Dickinson, Texas, Lisa Gaye Payne of La Porte, Texas, Shawn Patrick Pergande of Hugo, Oklahoma, Shannon Lance Ivey of Papau New Guina, Australia, Heather Amber Ivey of Austin, Texas, her 14 grandchildren (Holley, Ashley, Michelle, Shane, Jared, Desiree, Deirdre, Autumn, Cameron, Brooke, Lance, Elizabeth, Hannah, and Kaspar), 14 great grandchildren, nieces, nephews, cousins and many friends.

God saw the road was getting rough and the hills were hard to climb, so he closed those eyes on July 22, 2017, and whispered, "Come home, my child."

Funeral services will be 2:00 pm, Wednesday, July 26, 2017 at the Church of Jesus Christ the Latter Day Saints, Atlanta, Texas under the direction of Hanner Funeral Service with Vance Gaddy officiating.

Visitation will be Wednesday, July 26, 2017 from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm at Hanner Funeral Service, Atlanta, Texas.

Interment services will be 11:00 am, Friday, July 28, 2017, at the IOOF Cemetery, Metropolis, Illinois, under the direction of Aikins Farmer Funeral Home.