MOLINE — Joyce Hale Wiley, 80, passed peacefully at home in hospice June 14, 2020, as a result of complications from Alzheimer’s Disease.
Joyce was born in Evansville, Ind., June 13, 1940, to Betty Louise (Wolfe) and James Bartlett Hale and spent her childhood and youth on the family farm near Cottonwood, Ill. She graduated from Ridgway High School in 1958 and entered the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana in the School of Home Economics. She was active on campus and helped arrange guest lecturers for forums, the most notable of whom was Eleanor Roosevelt. Upon graduation she began graduate studies there and met her husband to be, Jack Cleveland Wiley. They both continued graduate studies at Purdue University and were married during semester break on January 25, 1965. Joyce received a PhD in Nutrition Science in 1968 and pursued post-doctoral research in Nutritional Biochemistry at the University of Illinois until the birth of their first child, Jason, in 1970.
The family moved to the Quad Cities in 1972 where Jack was employed by Deere & Company. Their second child, Alice Louise, was born in Davenport, Iowa, in 1974. Joyce became actively involved in the Religious Education program at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation and later ran the Adult Forum there for over 34 years.
In 1990, Joyce and Jack founded a support group for gay and lesbian youth that later became known as Quad Citians Affirming Diversity (QCAD). Joyce led that organization until 2017 when it was passed to Western Illinois University Moline. During that time, Joyce served hundreds of LGBTIA youth and adults and was a strong advocate in supporting the efforts that led to the establishment of civil rights laws protecting the LGBTIA population in the Quad Cities.
Joyce enjoyed cooking, reading the New York Times, following the news, and walking the family dog.
She is survived by; her husband, Jack Wiley, son, Jason Hale Wiley (Luke Vuttera) of Rockford, Ill., daughter, Alice Louise Wiley Pickett (Kyle) and grandsons Ned Pickett and Grant Pickett of Springfield, Mo., sister Linda Barter of Tucson, Ariz., and sister Alice Hirt (George Katsanos) of Holland, Mich., plus several nieces and nephews.
A Life Celebration Memorial Service will be held at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Davenport, Iowa, at a later date.
The family is very grateful for the superb care from the staff of Home Instead, especially Shana, Ana, and Jada and for the final care provided by Unity Point Hospice.
Memorials may be made to QCAD at Western Illinois University Moline and to the Neurology Department of the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.
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