Teacher was 'like virtuous woman in Proverbs'
Thursday, September 27, 2007By WENDY REEVESTimes Staff Writer wendy.reeves@htimes.com

Joyce Benefield 'amazing, loving, caring person'

Joyce Benefield did whatever she could to make the world a better place for others.

She died Sept. 19 at age 75 from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, better known as ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease.


Benefield was devoted to her family and friends. She loved her church and following Christ. She was a mentor, molder of young minds and an avid Auburn football fan.

"She was inexhaustible," said longtime friend Mary Taylor. "She was 10 years my senior, and she could run circles around me."

Benefield obtained a bachelor's degree in home economics from Auburn, a bachelor's in education from Athens State and a master's degree in administration from Alabama A&M.

She worked several years on Redstone Arsenal as a staffing clerk before she began her teaching career.

Benefield taught 26 years at Davis Hills Elementary. After it became the Academy for Science and Foreign Language, Benefield spent a half-year at Weatherly Elementary before she retired.

Then she returned to the arsenal in the personnel department for several years before retiring again.

"I guess she just couldn't stand the quietness at home, so then she went to work at Wal-Mart," said daughter Kay Patton. "She didn't have to, but she did it just to be around people, to interact and talk to adults."

Patton described her mother as "an amazing, loving and caring person."

A few years ago, Benefield bought a condo in Sevierville, Tenn. She took her family and friends there. And she loved to go there by herself because she found it so peaceful, Patton said.

Taylor remembers Benefield taking her "under her wing" when she started teaching at Davis Hills. Taylor was struggling after a divorce and was living with her children in a roach-infested rental.

Benefield's son was buying a new house and wanted to rent his, and Benefield immediately thought of Taylor.

"She was good about hooking people up with what they needed," Taylor said. "And I was by far not her only friend. She had many."

When Taylor was struggling, Benefield gave her vegetables from the garden and clothes that her daughter no longer needed.

"She was truly like the virtuous woman in Proverbs," Taylor said. "And she was also a very modest and humble lady."

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