Virginia Joyce (Smith) Carlee

Virginia Joyce (Smith) Carlee was received into the arms of her Savior on Monday, August 5, 2024. 

Joyce was 93 years old, having been born in December 1930 to Virginia McClellan Smith and Edgar Smith in Sipsey, Alabama, a coal mining camp in central Alabama. 

Joyce passed peacefully in at-home Hospice Care with her son John holding her hand. She was ready.

Joyce will rest in peace in Jefferson Memorial Cemetery in Birmingham, Alabama, next to her youngest son, James Mark Carlee who predeceased her in 2009. She is survived by her two older sons, Ron Carlee and his wife Emily Cross of Norfolk, Virginia and John Carlee and his wife Janette Carlee of Lewisville, North Carolina. 

Joyce lived with John and Janette since 2019, where she received loving care and was able to enjoy time with her two grandsons, Jonathan, married to Sydney, and Michael, married to Lynnsay. In 2024, Michael and Lynnsay blessed Joyce with her only great grandchild, Nova, with whom she was able to spend many loving hours.

Joyce was predeceased by her older siblings Carol Pierce and Leroy Smith, and by her younger siblings Randall (Billy) Smith and Anita Smith. She is survived by siblings Jane Barker of Florida and Herbert Smith of New Mexico.

As a child, Joyce lived in various mining camps in Walker County, Alabama. The Smith family moved to Birmingham in the late 1940s when the mines closed. The family initially lived in Cahaba Heights. Later the family with four children at home, moved into Birmingham’s Mark’s Village (also known as Gate City). Joyce worked to support the family at department stores and donut shops in downtown Birmingham.

In 1953, Joyce married Cecil Carlee, originally from Bessemer, where his father had been an iron ore minor. After bearing her three sons, the marriage ended in divorce in 1968. Joyce and her sons lived in the Woodlawn and East Lake areas of Birmingham, Alabama. They were members of the former 50th Street Baptist Church. For over 20 years, Joyce was a faithful member of the Lakewood Baptist Church, which she attended their virtual service every Sunday after moving to North Carolina. She did so even on the day before her death.

For most of her working life, Joyce was employed by J.C. Penny, first at East Lake Mall and then Century Plaza, but Joyce’s most important work was as a servant to others. She was a caregiver for her parents, siblings, and neighbors. She spent many treasured weeks with her grandsons when they were children. She would give or do anything for anyone. She was compelled by her faith to love all people. In turn, she was loved and supported by all who knew her.

Throughout her life, Joyce faced many tribulations, but was always steadfast in prayer. Her faith was core to her being from the time of her salvation at age 12. 

She said, “I was afraid of school and got my education in church. I learned to read by studying the Bible.” 

Indeed, Joyce read the Bible daily and from cover to cover more than once. Her favorite passages were John 14, verses 1-6, and I Thessalonians 4, verses 13-18. The latter concludes with “…we which are alive…shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”

Joyce will be interred at Jefferson Memorial Cemetery in a graveside ceremony on Wednesday, August 21, 2024, at 10:00 a.m. In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to Lakewood Baptist Church or the charity of your choice.