P. Joyce Pierson
P. Joyce Pierson, age 81, passed away the morning of Feb. 18, 2013 at her home in Pinckneyville, Ill. unexpectedly from natural causes.
Joyce was born on July 13, 1931 in Pinckneyville, Ill., a daughter of Harold and Elizabeth (Morgenstern) Margenthaler. She grew up in the Pinckneyville area and graduated from Pinckneyville Community High School where she was a cheerleader when they won their State Championship in basketball. Right after high school she worked as a secretary at the high school for several years.
Joyce actively participated in the horse world throughout her life as both an amateur and a professional horse woman. She started showing society ponies during the Great Depression with her father and later ran her own training stable, one of the first women to do so. Pierson showed champion caliber Shetlands, Hackneys and Harness Show ponies throughout the United States, attending 20-30 shows per year and averaging 50,000 miles annually. Later in life, Joyce, with her daughter, Ann Linze and granddaughter, Samantha Linze, established Jolie Cheval Farm which raised a number of noted national champion American Shetland Ponies and American Miniature Horses in recent years. Jolie Cheval is home to a seven-time superior sire American Shetland stallion and Joyce was the breeder of five horses or ponies of the year among other noted champions. Joyce has been a licensed and accredited equine judge and served on the national board of the American Shetland Pony Club Inc. (ASPC). She was a lifetime member of the ASPC and was inducted into that organization's People Hall of Fame in November 2012 in a ceremony in St. Louis, Mo.
Beyond her life with horses, Joyce enjoyed her beloved Pomeranian, Ginger. After her career as a professional horse trainer, Joyce later worked as a coal miner at the Amax and then Arch mines and was a member of the U.M.W.A. She had also owned and operated the ladies clothing store "The Unusual" in Pinckneyville, Ill. Joyce was a member of the First United Methodist Church, Pinckneyville, Ill., the Who's Who in World of Women and the Who's Who in World of Horsedom. She loved Cardinal baseball and enjoyed spending time with family and was looking forward to her granddaughter Samantha's upcoming wedding.
Joyce will be missed by her daughter, Ann Linze and son-in-law, Mike Linze of Pinckneyville, Ill.; granddaughter, Samantha Linze and her fiancé, Alan Lewis of Chicago, Ill.; step-daughter, Flora-Gene Darnell and her husband, Dave Darnell of Williamsville, Ill.; step-grandson, Connor Darnell of Williamsville, Ill.; aunt, Virginia Bartle of Pinckneyville, Ill. and cousins, Joyce Wildermuth and June Biby of Pinckneyville, Ill.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Harold and Elizabeth Margethaler.
Per Joyce's wishes, there will be no formal funeral. The family is presently considering holding a memorial service at a later date.
Memorial gifts for Joyce may be made to the American Sheland Pony Club, 81B E. Queenwood, Morton, IL 61550, Attn: Youth Organization.
Pyatt Funeral Home, Pinckneyville, Ill. is in charge of arrangements. For more information or to sign an online guest register please visit www.pyattfuneralhome.com.