Joyce Loebner Obituary, Member Of The Sneedville First Baptist Church Has Died

Joyce Loebner Obituary, Death – After a brief battle with illness, Joyce Kay Zachary Loebner passed away on February 9, 2023. She was 81 years old. She is survived by her daughter, Jaime Loebner, her son, Joshua (Sarah) Loebner, her granddaughters, Eileen and Edith Loebner, as well as her brothers, Tommy (Sheila) Zachary and Bob (Cindy) Zachary, as well as a large number of nieces and nephews. Joyce spent her entire life in East Tennessee, where she was both born and passed away; she considered this region to be her home.

She left her hometown and traveled west to Southern California after earning a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from the University of Tennessee. She had previously lived in Tennessee. Over the course of almost 25 years, she instructed a wide variety of children in Los Angeles. She had a thirst for new experiences, so she decided to spend a year of her stay there working as a teacher at a military post in Brazil. In addition to that, she was the proud co-owner of a well-known housewares shop in Los Angeles. As her parents, Fred and Naoma, got older, she had the overwhelming desire to return to East Tennessee to assist with their care.

Later on, after working as a teacher for many years, Joyce transitioned into a career as a school librarian and substitute teacher in Hancock County, Tennessee. She continued her education far into her 60s, earning a master’s degree in library science from East Tennessee State University (ETSU). Joyce took in and cared for a large number of strays throughout the course of her life, and she did a wonderful job of spoiling the majority of them. She had the greenest of thumbs, taking after her father, who was an agriculture teacher, and she built an oasis of luxuriant plants in her “holler.” Her father was an agriculture instructor.

She was very devoted to the Sneedville First Baptist Church, where she had played the piano for many years during the services. She was a voracious reader, and she instilled in her children a love of learning and a respect for the written word. There will be a private memorial service held at the gravesite for the family. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial contributions be made to Overhome Animal Rescue, a nonprofit organization with tax-exempt status that can be reached at PO Box 556, Sneedville, Tennessee 37869.