Joyce Marie Schexnider

Joyce Marie Broussard Schexnider passed away peacefully Dec. 20, 2021, just 2 days shy of the 10-year anniversary of her beloved husband’s passing and 2 days after his birthday.  What a joyous, heavenly celebration it must have been!

Joyce was born June 19, 1933, to Edier and Lorna Landry Broussard.  She married the love of her life, Alton, November 25, 1950.  She and Alton moved to Holly Beach in 1954 to run Schexnider’s Holly Beach Grocery.  In 1957, Hurricane Audrey hit Holly Beach and with 3 small children and a 6 month old baby, they evacuated to Hackberry of which, after losing everything they owned, they relocated to.  Footnote: If you have ever read Father Theodore Brandley’s account of that storm from the History of Hackberry book, Joyce was the young mother knocking at the rectory door asking for a rosary.  It was in Hackberry where they settled and raised their 5 children.

Joyce was a member of St. Peter the Apostle Catholic Church in Hackberry where she belonged to the Catholic Daughter’s Court 1706.  She was part of the original famous homemade pies baked and sold to help pay off the church mortgage.  Joyce worked countless church festivals helping to make the much sought- after rice dressing.

Joyce worked for the Cameron Parish School Board in the Hackberry school cafeteria.  Her cornbread dressing was always a highly anticipated treat for the teachers and students.  Upon retirement, Joyce and Alton would spend many days at their camp in Toledo Bend fishing and hosting family get togethers.

In 2009, after enduring two more hurricanes, Joyce and Alton moved to Sulphur and became members of Our Lady of Prompt Succor Catholic Church.

She welcomed all who knocked at her door, and especially enjoyed her coffee hour listening to and telling stories of the past.

Joyce will be remembered for her exceptional Cajun cooking, her giving spirit and her total selflessness.  There were countless times she did without so her children’s needs could be met.

She loved family gatherings and being a part of a large clan that she and ‘Daddy’ created.

Joyce has left to cherish her memory  her son Ronald (Jeanne) Schexnider; daughters, Glenda (Ronnie) Abshire, Cheryl (Jeff) Sanders, and Tina Dickerson; daughter-in-law Pat Schexnider; godchildren Joan Morvant and Guy Picard; sisters Louella (Jimmy) Sonnier and Jeanette (Carol) Lacy; grandchildren, Ron Schexnider Jr., Richard (Jessica) Abshire, Brady & Sheree’ Abshire, Amanda (Todd) Boudreaux, Julia (Josh, Benoit, Lori Sanders, D.J. (Karissa) Schexnider, and Paige (Bobby) Spencer; 20 great grandchildren, with one more on the way; 5 great-great grandchildren; and numerous nieces and nephews.

She is preceded in death by her parents; husband, Alton Schexnider; son, Darrell Schexnider, Sr.; son-in-law, Richard Abshire; grandsons, Marcus Lee and Alan Joseph Dickerson; great granddaughter, Catherine Renee Boudreaux; and siblings, Fred, Paul, Hugh, Leona, and Nola Broussard, Tina Simon, Wilda Bares, and Mildred Picard.

The family would like to extend their appreciation to Heart of Hospice and Lisa Antoine for their care and compassion given to our mother.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be at 11am, Tuesday, December 28, 2021, at Our Lady of Prompt Succor Catholic Church of Sulphur, La.  Burial will follow at Hackberry Community Cemetery.  Visitation will be held at Johnson and Robison Funeral Home in Sulphur, La., 4pm-8pm, Monday, December 27, 2021, with a Rosary at 6pm, and will resume Tuesday, December 28, 2021, 8am – 10:45am when we will depart for the Mass at Our Lady of Prompt Succor Catholic Church.