Joyce Ann Ryder

Joyce Ann (MaGill) Ryder of McIndoe Falls, Vermont, passed away quietly in Whitefield, New Hampshire, on February 27, 2026, at the age of 95, with her family by her side. Born on June 5, 1930, in Laconia, New Hampshire, she was the middle of five children of Eliza Atlanta “Ela” (Burt) and Norman Joseph MaGill. Raised in a lively four-generation household on the North Danville Road in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, Joyce grew up surrounded by her parents, siblings Gloria Isabel, Oliver Burt, Iris Ela, and Norman Joseph II, as well as grandparents Charlotte Isabel (Fleming) and Joseph Gallagher MaGill and great-grandmother Isabella Gallagher Fleming. The family’s small farm supplied much of their food, while her father balanced factory work with playing violin and saxophone at local dances.

Joyce graduated from St. Johnsbury Academy in 1948. She became a certified nursing assistant, completed an extended theological study program through the United Church of Christ, and earned her Bachelor of Arts in Social Services, summa cum laude, from Southern New Hampshire University at the age of 55. She obtained her driver’s license in her early fifties and worked full-time for most of her life in retail, clerical, health care, and social services.

On June 26, 1949, Joyce married Harold Elson Ryder at North Congregational Church in St. Johnsbury. Together they raised four children—Jade Elaine, Cathy Ann, Ross David, and Scott Harold—in their large home in McIndoe Falls, which, like her childhood home, remained open to extended family. Her grandmother Charlotte lived with them for many years, as did Harold’s father during periods of recovery. In 1970, Joyce and Harold began fostering more than a hundred Vermont teenagers over several decades, treating each with genuine care and interest. Keith Pratt and Kelly Pratt Gibson became lasting members of their family.

Deeply committed to her faith, Joyce was an active member of the United Church of Christ in McIndoe Falls, serving as Sunday school teacher and superintendent, deacon, and leader in the Ladies’ Aide Society. She held leadership roles in the Vermont Conference of the United Church of Christ and the Vermont Christian Education Association, and she counseled at Camp Wihakowi. Music and dancing were lifelong joys; she played piano and violin, tap danced, jitterbugged, and square danced with Harold for decades, hosting lively house parties filled with music and her grandmother’s home-brew recipe. Energetic and competitive, Joyce played basketball, swam, participated in 4-H, twirled as a majorette, taught tap dance, and remained an enthusiastic participant in games, politics, and theological discussions.

She is remembered as a warm, welcoming, and spirited woman who placed family and community at the center of her full life. She leaves behind her children, extended family, and the many foster children whose lives she touched.