Joyce Lydia Riesland

Joyce Riesland was born on October 14th, 1939 in San Jacinto, CA to Robert and Gwendolyn Hoffman. She passed away on December 13th, 2017 unexpectedly in her home.



Joyce was the 4th of 6 children and attended school in San Jacinto and graduated from San Jacinto High School (San Jacinto, CA) in 1957. After high school, she studied teaching at a local community college and worked as an operator for the phone company where she met her future husband. In 1959, she married Ray Riesland and together they raised three sons. She greatly enjoyed becoming a mother and a homemaker.



In 1969, the family moved to Salmon, Idaho where Ray and Joyce continued to raise three rowdy boys as well as went to work at Montgomery Ward as a sales associate. In 1975, the family moved again, this time to Belgrade, Montana. As her boys traversed through their school years, she worked briefly as a substitute teacher in the Belgrade School District and became actively involved in following their sporting activities. Joyce never missed a game or a track meet and was well known for not only rooting for her boys, but cheering for the whole team. She was also an active member of the Belgrade Booster Club. In her spare time, she did the bookkeeping for the trucking business which she and husband Ray started. After the boys graduated from high school, she went to work for Idaho Asphalt Supply as their Montana dispatcher.



Joyce was an excellent cook (evidenced by her ‘Big Boys!’). There was always an abundance of food, snacks, desserts, and of course, cookies. She loved sewing, quilting, and crafting. She also loved shopping and traveling. She adored her grandkids and was recently blessed with her first great-grandchild, Brynlee Rose, who she got to meet and hold the day before her passing.



Joyce regularly attended Dry Creek Bible Church and also ventured out to Evangelical Free (E-Free) Church in Bozeman. She always had to have to have her coffee on the way to church (thank you Amanda), and she really enjoyed her brunch/lunch after church with her family. In her later years (and her last job), she sold tickets at the Manhattan Christian volleyball and basketball games. Everyone loved seeing Joyce at the ticket counter and they were disappointed when she wasn’t in attendance. The late Mr. Dyk jokingly referred to her as the ‘local tax collector’.



Joyce is survived by her sons: Dave (Mary) Riesland of Hartford, WI & Barry (Kay) Riesland; grandsons Preston (Ashley) & Cameron (Jessica) (along with great granddaughter Brynlee) of Belgrade, MT; granddaughter Amanda Riesland of Belgrade, MT; brothers Norman (Iris) Hoffman of Hemet, CA, Jerry (Karin) Hoffman of Bozeman, MT & Richard (Brenda) Hoffman of Manhattan, MT.



She is preceded in death by her father Robert Hoffman, mother Gwendolyn Hadley, sister Marvel Brock, brother Robin Hoffman, son Brian Riesland, and daughter-in-law Angie Adams-Riesland.



A memorial service will be held on Wednesday, December 20th at 11:00 am at Dry Creek Bible Church in Belgrade. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made in Joyce’s name to Dry Creek Bible Church, 8465 Dry Creek Rd, Belgrade, MT 59714.