Email  Print

Joyce Elaine Hostetter (Abbott)

Joyce Elaine Hostetter (Abbott), aged 82 years and 3 months, left this world on March 24, 2011, after a short illness. She is now being held in the loving arms of her personal Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Joyce was born in Jamestown, N.Y., on Dec. 24, 1928, to Charles Robert and Ellen Mathilda Hill. She was the first of four children, followed by Richard, Ronn and Dennis.

Joyce was predeceased by her parents and two brothers, Dennis and Richard.

She is survived by her son, Jeffrey (Claudia) and daughter, Debbie (Jim) Smith. She also leaves behind five grandchildren, Ryan, Cynthia, Kelli, Will and Haley; and five great-grandchildren, Elias, Cheyenne, Alena, Adyn, Chelsea and one more on the way. She loved them with all of her heart!

Joyce moved to San Francisco in 1950, where she went to work in the office of a local trucking company. There she met and married William "Bill" Hostetter in 1954. They moved to Southern California and were blessed with two children, Jeffrey, in 1956, followed by Debbie in 1957.

She worked for various trucking companies throughout the years while raising her family at the same time. In 1970, she studied for and received her real estate license. She sold real estate for four years and then quit to manage the family's frozen dessert business. In 1980, she went back into the trucking business where she along with her husband, son, and "favorite" (only!) son-in-law, Jim Smith, owned and managed a trucking and warehouse company in the San Francisco Bay Area.

After Joyce and Bill sold their business and retired to Dunsmuir in Northern California, Bill passed away in 1992. Joyce moved to Sonoma to be closer to her family, and there she fell in love with and married Parker Abbott. Parker passed away in 2010.

Elaine, as she came to be called, worked tirelessly for the Sonoma County Mobilehome Owners Association (SCMOA), helping others to understand their rights and advocating for them. She was tenacious, yet honest, compassionate and fair.

Elaine liked to cook and was always coming up with a new dish that you just "had to try." She also loved to decorate her home, designing and building with no formal training. Since she was a Christmas Eve baby, Christmas was her favorite time of year, although the holiday and her birthday were two entirely separate events! She was a pianist, and also served the Lord by playing the organ at the Sonoma Christian and Missionary Alliance Church. She loved her Jesus and she had a personal relationship with him. She asked that no one be sad for her, but rather to be happy because she knows where she is going. God is good, but we'll still miss her a lot! See you soon, Mom.

A Celebration of Life will be held at the Sonoma Christian and Missionary Alliance Church, 125 E. Watmaugh Road, Sonoma on Saturday, April 16, 2011, at 2 p.m.

Donations suggested to the Redwood Gospel Mission, 101 6th St., Santa Rosa, CA 95401

Arrangements under the direction of Duggan's Mission Chapel, Mission Cremation Service, 525 W. Napa St., Sonoma, CA.