Joyce Taylor Raffield

A visitation for Joyce Taylor Raffield, 84, will be from 5-7 p.m., Tuesday, June 16, 2026, at Autry Funeral Home in Jacksonville. She was laid to rest at Greenwood Cemetery in Panama City, Florida.
Joy was born on August 7, 1941, to Robert Lee and Flaurie (Godfrey) Taylor and celebrated her heavenly birthday passing away on June 8, 2026.  
Joy and her husband, John Charles, moved to Jacksonville in 1970, and she quickly made the community her home and spent many dedicated years serving others through her work at Rusk State Hospital.  She was a loving wife, mother whose devotion to her family was steady and unwavering, and a cherished grandmother to her grandchildren and great grandchildren, who were truly the joy of her life. She loved to study her Bible and found comfort, purpose, and strength in its pages; daily she wrote on sticky notes and in her day planner personal thoughts, Bible study notes and messages to those she loved. She loved the beach and she enjoyed watching the sunrise & sunset over the Gulf, the sound of the waves crashing (or gently lapping) onto the shoreline.
A hastily written thought on a sticky note which now seems more profound; “Memories. The sand will wash off. The salt will wash off. The tan will fade away. The memories will last forever”.
Joy was preceded in death by her husband, and her parents.
Left to cherish her memory are her children, Carla Batton and John Robert Raffield and wife, Jan; grandchildren: Cayla Hendrick and husband Shean; Cassie Hollenbeck and husband, Dakota; Sherron Larsen and husband, Steven; Brooke Cameron and husband, Charlie; Blake Parker and wife, Emily; Johnathan Raffield and wife, Bianca; and Cortney Miller; and numerous great-grandchildren.