Joyce Lownes Hoyt Robinson

Joyce Lownes Hoyt Robinson
Clemson, SC

Joyce Lownes Hoyt Robinson, 97, passed away Monday, May 28, 2018

Mrs. Robinson was born August 4, 1920, in Gladwyne, Pennsylvania, to the late Walter and Florence Lownes. She graduated from Ursinus College, PA, in 1942 and joined the Women's Army Corp (WAC) as an officer in military intelligence. She worked in coding and decoding messages to Latin America in both Miami, Florida, and the Pentagon. She was sent to the University of Michigan to learn Japanese, and immediately after the war she went to Japan under General McArthur where at the age of 25, she supervised 150 Japanese men monitoring written communications. She left the army with the rank of Major.

In 1948 she spent a year traveling by land around South America working in various places. On this trip she met and married Henry (Hank) A. Hoyt who worked for the U. S. Embassy in Paraguay. Joyce loved Foreign Service life with Hank in Cuba, Venezuela, Uruguay and Argentina. Hank died in 1967 while serving as the U. S. Ambassador to Uruguay.

Joyce moved her family back to the Washington, D.C., area and worked for the Overseas Education Fund as Associate Executive Director and Director of Latin America Programs. She served for fourteen years as U.S. Alternate Delegate to the Inter-American Commission of Women, Organization of American States, and on the board of the Public Members Association evaluating Foreign Service officers' performance records.

In 1972 Joyce married Hamilton L. Robinson (Robby). They were married for almost 30 years. In her fifties, Joyce earned a degree in accounting from the University of Maryland and served as bookkeeper for Robby's business. They enjoyed traveling, ballroom dancing, church activities, investment clubs, Rotary, Sons of the American Revolution, and time with family and friends. They loved gathering their large family for special events and for an annual week at the beach. They especially enjoyed several sailing trips on clipper ships, an experience Joyce shared twice with her children and their families.

Joyce moved to the Clemson Downs Retirement Center in 2007 to be near her daughter Pam and family. She enjoyed her friends and activities at the Downs and being surrounded by family.

Joyce loved her four children, Joanne Young (Dave), Pam Schmutz (Jim), Jim Hoyt (Amalin), Gus Hoyt (Janice); a step-daughter, Maryethel Miller (George); thirteen grandchildren, Brian, Timmy, Cathy, Chris, Jonathan, Carolyn, Jeremy, Jimmy, Jonathan, Michael, Jackie, Alex and Nathan; and 13 great-grandchildren. Joyce was predeceased by her parents, her sister Charlotte Olewiler and brother Walter (Bud) Lownes.

A funeral service will be held at 5:00 p.m. on Friday, June 1, at the ALIVE Wesleyan Church, 136 Chastain Road, Central, SC 29630. Friends are invited to visit with the family from 4:00 p.m. until 4:50 p.m. prior to the service. A graveside service will be held on Monday, June 4 at Rock Creek Cemetery, Rock Creek Church Road and Webster Street NW, Washington, D.C., 20011.

Condolences may be expressed online at www.robinsonfuneralhomes.com or in person at Duckett-Robinson Funeral Home-Central, SC, which is assisting the family.