SHELBY- Joyce Summers June 28, 1935 – August 6, 2026

SHELBY- Mrs. Joyce Annette Bolin Summers, 91, went home to be with her Lord and Savior on Thursday, August 6, 2026, at Wendover Hospice House.

In addition to being a wife and homemaker, Joyce taught piano lessons to many students from her home studio, and was employed as a church secretary and later as the secretary of the GOAL Program at Gardner-Webb University for 25 years.

Joyce was a member of Elizabeth Baptist Church, where she sang in the choir and served as one of the teachers of the Christian Family Sunday School Class. Over the course of several decades she served as a church pianist and choir member, and she faithfully taught the Bible to children in various churches, neighborhoods, community centers, and migrant camps, both in the United States and Panama. Over recent decades it was her joy to teach various Sunday School classes for adults of all ages, and also to serve for several years on the Leadership Team for the Shelby class of Community Bible Study and sing in the Cleveland County Choral Society.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Horace and Floetta Bolin, and her brother, Rex Bolin. She is survived by her husband, Dr. Oland Summers of Shelby; sister, Sue Kraemer of Tarpon Springs FL; children, Beth (Dale) Heffner of Rutherfordton, Jeannie (Stephen) Smith of Boiling Springs SC, and Stephen (Amy) Summers of Belmont; grandchildren, Aimee (Michael) Blade of New Palestine IN, Adam (Kristin) Heffner of Mooresboro, Alex Tillman of Northville MI, Katie Tillman of Greenville SC, Aaron (Lauren) Summers of St. Charles MO, Rachel (John) Bennett of Kernersville, and Philip Summers of Raleigh; and great grandchildren, Makayla (Chase) Thompson of Indianapolis IN, Grayson Blade of New Palestine IN, A.J. Heffner of Mooresboro, and Addison, Paxton, Olivia and Margot Summers of St. Charles MO.

A funeral service will be held at 2:00 pm on Sunday, August 9, at Elizabeth Baptist Church, with Dr. Rit Varriale, Rev. Hal Schwantes, and Dr. Stephen Summers officiating, and the family will receive friends afterward during a reception in the church fellowship hall. Interment will occur Monday at a family graveside service at Cleveland Memorial Park.

Joyce’s family is grateful for the loving care provided by Hospice of Cleveland County, particularly the homecare and the Wendover inpatient care teams. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be given to VIA Health Partners (Hospice) or to the Food Bank Ministry of Elizabeth Baptist Church.

Services are entrusted to Clay-Barnette Funeral Home & Aquamation Center www.claybarnette.com