Joyce Durand Meier Ripley was called to her eternal home on Thursday, July 17, 2025.

The oldest daughter of Gilbert & Fern Durand and younger sister of Bob and Dick, Joyce learned fast to be a help to her mother when the twins, Jean & Joanne, were born. Next came Ron, Tom, Jim, Lynda, DeeAnn, & Roger who rounded out the family.

She caught the eye of Kenny Meier and after he served in the Korean War were married and made their home in Red WIng, Ladysmith, and finally Spooner where Kenny was a butcher for National Tea. Within six years they had Rebecca, Rory, Tammera, and Kurt who brought them much joy. Tragedy struck their lives when Kenny was killed in a car accident.

Joyce forged ahead as best as she could with four little kids in tow and moved to River Falls where her parents were living and worked at a hotel Gilbert built for his construction workers and rented rooms to college students.

Gilbert set her up on a blind date with a gentleman, Rod Ripley, who also experienced loss and was raising three kids, Bruce, Amy, and Marc, on his own. They built a new house, bringing these two families together in Spooner. They had three more children - Gerald, William, & John.

Joyce was involved in her kid’s lives and served as a Girl Scout Leader, a member of the Spooner Memorial Library Board, hockey & baseball mom, Blood Mobile Chairperson, and on the Washburn County Historical Board. Working alongside her dad, Gilbert, at the cement block factory and the hotel, she had a great business sense and was Rod’s administrative assistant for his surveying company, even sometimes being part of the field crew. Joyce always had a song in her heart and on her lips. Their big house on Riphill was open to family and friends and was the place everyone gathered.

She is survived by her 10 children, 26 grandchildren, 37 great grandchildren, and 3 great-great grandchildren, and her siblings, Jean Batte, Thomas Durand, DeeAnn McLellan, and Roger Durand.

A Mass of Christian burial will be held at St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church, Spooner on Saturday, July 26, at 11:00 am. Visitation will be Friday evening at the Bratley-Nelson Funeral Home in Spooner from 5:00-8:00 pm and on Saturday morning at the church beginning at 10:00 until the time of Mass. Burial will follow at the Earl Cemetery in Earl, Wisconsin.

Memorials may be made to St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church or the Washburn County Historical Society.

Last Update: Jul 21, 2025 7:18 am CDT