Joy Nadine Baumgardner Springfield

Joy was born at home on Nov 5, 1935 to David Elijah Tucker & Jennie Florence (Moffatt) in Dallas County, this was before city limits existed; she joined older sisters Katherine Jeanette and Elizabeth Claryce (aka “Sister”).

Katherine was the oldest of the girls and nine years older than Joy, but you wouldn’t know it because, Joy was always telling her older sisters what to do and that aspect of their relationship continued throughout their lives.

The girls had memories of living on a dairy farm for a period of time when they were children and remembered helping their daddy milk the cows, the farm was located in the area that is now known as Arlington, TX.

The family eventually moved into the city limits and at that time it wasn’t uncommon for family branches to live together; that meant parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins…a kind of Walton’s Mountain without the mountain. The David Tucker family moved in with his sister, Irene Tucker and her family for a period of time; it was a small house, however, it seemed big when they were children and they had everything they needed.

Family trivia, Irene Tucker (maiden name) married Oney Tucker, so she never had to change her name. Uncle Oney & Aunt Irene became a second set of parents for Katherine, Sister & Joy and were more like grandparents to their children than an aunt and uncle; their children Clinton, Dwayne, Janice and William were like siblings…Janice and Joy grew to be more like sisters when the older girls, Katherine and Sister, married and moved out of the family home.

After a short time as an elevator operator at Sanger Bros in Dallas Joy spread her wings and ventured down a different path working at a grocery store as a cashier; she loved the grocery business and continued to work in it until she retired in 2004 from Brookshire Brothers in Madisonville, TX.

Many don’t know this tidbit of trivia, during Joy’s tenure in the grocery business she entered a competition in 1968 for speed and accuracy and won “Checker of the Year” in the State of Texas, this was back in the day when you had to key in everything manually, and not digital scanning like it is today.

It was while working at a grocery store when she was 17 yrs old, that Joy met her first husband Robert Geeo and they had a son, James Robert Geeo (Robbye). Although Joy had a big heart and loved her family dearly, she was unlucky in the “Love Dept”, this was one of her greatest regrets in life. The marriage to Robert lasted about 3 yrs.

Alan Powell, stepped in to save the day and mend Joy’s broken heart; they eventually married and had two children Tracye Ann and Richard Kevin (Rockye). It was during this marriage when Alan had a job transfer and they moved to Houston.

She was known by her family and friends as Nadine since she was a child, which was her middle name. However, she didn’t like her middle name so she took advantage of the opportunity when she moved to Houston to introduce herself as Joy, her first name. The marriage to Alan was wrought with problems and it lasted about 5 years.

Joy worked several jobs to provide for her children and do the best job she could as a single mother. It took a couple of years for a new love to come into her life, James Baumgardner (Jim). Jim swooped her off her feet and even adopted Joy’s children and they tried for almost 40 years to have a happily ever after. However, happily ever after wasn’t in the cards.

Joy and Katherine bought a house together in Madisonville and subsequently Joy became Katherine’s caregiver. Several years later in 2006 Joy met C.C. Springfield when he came to repair the freezer, they found a common ground of loneliness and love of the Lord and decided at this late time in their lives they should marry so they would have a constant companion.

C.C. developed a severe case of shingles in 2012 and Joy became his caregiver until he passed on July 4, 2014. Joy suffered a major stroke four months later on Nov 16, 2014 and never fully recovered; in the last two years she became bed-ridden which caused complications and eventually took her life; she received her Angel Wings on Mar 3rd, 2023.

Growing up Joy worshiped with her family at Colonial Baptist Church in Dallas, however, as an adult she changed when she moved to Houston and raised her children in the Church of Christ until she moved her membership to Madisonville Christian Fellowship in her early 70’s and worshipped there until she had to move to Bryan a year after her stroke.

Joy was preceded in death by her parents; sons Richard Kevin Baumgardner and James Robert Geeo; husband C.C. Springfield; sister Katherine Jones; daughter -in-law Maria Baumgardner; granddaughter Melissa Baumgardner; grandson Daniel Dobbs; son-in-law Paul Dobbs.

Joy is survived by daughter Tracye Sanders (Paul); sister Elizabeth Gullatt; step-son James Baumgardner Jr; step-daughters Maggie McGonnigil (Ken); Alesia Reese (John); surrogate daughter and best friend Rebecca Atkinson (Tony); grandchildren Mandy Geeo Childers; Paul Dobbs Jr; Kevin Dobbs; Ashley Swim Dutton; Sarah Swim Conner; Jesica Geeo; Meggan Geeo Thor; Shane Geeo; Ryan Baumgardner; Jennifer Rohrbaugh; Justin Reese; Dava, Dylan, and Davin Oxford; many great-grandchildren , nieces and nephews.

A Life Celebration will be held Saturday May 6th at Madisonville Christian Fellowship at 1pm. Please join us to celebrate Joy’s life and share fond memories.

In lieu of flowers the family requests donations be made to NAMI-Brazos Valley or a non-profit of your choice.