Joyce Elaine Gearhart, 63, of Thaxton, passed away on Tuesday, November 29, 2016.

She was a nurse for many years at Lewis-Gale Medical Center in Salem.

Preceding her in death were her parents, Minor Wiley and Twila Frantz Gearhart.

Her surviving family includes her longtime friend, Leon Slusher; children, Joey Craighead and Amy Butts and husband, David; siblings, Gary Gearhart and wife, Norma, and Terry Gearhart and wife, Margaret; grandchildren, Trevor, Leah, and Lynsey Butts; aunts and uncles, Shirley and Norman Yates, Butch and Jackie Frantz, and Dolly Flowers; and nieces and nephew, Angela and Allison Dudley, and Anna and Jacob Gearhart.

The family will receive friends from 2 to 4 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m. on Thursday, December 1, 2016, at the John M. Oakey & Son Funeral Home in Salem. A funeral service will be conducted at 2 p.m. on Friday, December 2, 2016, in the funeral home’s chapel with Rev. Ken Dupin officiating. Interment will immediately follow at Sherwood Memorial Park.

Online condolences may be expressed at www.johnmoakey.com.