Joyce Celene Wright, 88, passed away peacefully on May 4, 2021 after a brief illness. She was born June
3, 1932 in Medford, WI to Leo and Clara (Poehnlein) Sauer and was the oldest of eight children whose
formative years were spent living on a Wisconsin dairy farm.
In 1949, she married her high school sweetheart, Harvey Allen Wright. He joined the Wisconsin National
Guard and in 1961 was called to active duty, thus beginning the Wrights’ journey as a military family.
Many assignments ensued and Joyce embraced each one with an enthusiastic outlook, making sure that
her family arrived in a new environment of schools, doctors, and activities happily! She found her new
passion of traveling and had visited many of the United States and more than a dozen countries on four
continents.
Joyce’s priorities of God, Family, and the Green Bay Packers, were steadfast and shown often as she
enjoyed being involved in church activities, family gatherings, and as a proud shareholder of the Green
Bay Packers. Joyce was an avid golfer and enjoyed daily bird-watching, especially her adored cardinals.
Her beautiful life will forever be cherished in the lives of her surviving children, Linda (Art) Carlson,
Plainfield, IL, Vicki Schulz, Green Bay, WI, Allen Wright, Brandon, FL, Steve (CandE) Wright, Coppell, TX,
Jeff (Beverly) Wright, Aurora, CO and Lori (Greg) Olthoff, Spring Lake, MI; her brother Mark Sauer,
Marshfield, WI and numerous nieces and nephews. Her beloved grandchildren, Kimberly (Brian)
Baudek, Gwendolyn (Frank) Patula, Rocky (Fran) Carlson, Erika (Matthew Schmidt) Schulz, Tristan
(Kelsey Danum Stetson) Schulz, Sandra (Brandon) Swan, Michele (Vince) Baudek, Tanya (David) Harp,
Kim (Lou) Stricklin, Brett (Sara) Wright, Evan (Aly Edwards) Wright, Travis (Arjuna Balaranjan) DeMars,
Caleb (Ellie) Olthoff, and Sierra Olthoff.
Joyce was also blessed with many great-grandchildren: Hannah, Claire, Caden, Emmy, Addy, Nash, Andy,
Mia, Sadie, Aidan, Cale, Brek, Liam, Quinlee Mae, Sawyer, Ben, Molly, Avery, Archer, Madelyn, and
Ethan.
Joyce was preceded in death by, her husband Harvey, daughter Sandy Wright, parents Leo and Clara,
siblings Ken Sauer, Carol Raab, Deanne Hawley, Ruth Cherney, Leon Sauer, and Kathy Olson,
granddaughter, Jessica Wright, sons-in-law Michael Schulz and Keith DeMars, and great-granddaughter
Chloe Harp.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 12:00 Noon on Friday, May 21, 2021, at St. John the Baptist
Catholic Church in Plymouth, with visitation taking place from 11:00 A.M. until the time of Mass. The
Mass will be live-streamed and can be viewed through the Church website
(https://sjbplymouth.org/Parish). Father Philip Reifenberg, Pastor of the Church, will officiate. Burial will
be in the St. John the Baptist Parish Cemetery following Mass.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Lightways Hospice (Joliet Area Community
Hospice) and the Salvation Army.
The family would like to express their thanks to the staff at Senior Star at Weber Place for the wonderful
care of their mother.
The Suchon Funeral Home and Cremation Services of Plymouth is assisting the family. For online
condolences, please visit www.suchonfh.com.
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