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They Named Her Joy - No Middle Name, Just Joy
"I was the tenth, and my mother had run out of names!" smiles Joy Ashworth. She was born in Memphis to Beatrice Barnes Hurley and John Herbert Hurley who lived in the Binghampton neighborhood. Mr. Hurley was a watchmaker and jewelry repairman.
When Joy was just sixteen months old, her father died suddenly. He was only 47 years old. Unfortunately, he had let his insurance lapse, making a sad situation even harder. The heartache and the finances were hard, but Mrs. Hurley managed and Joy remembers how she did it -"She made us all work hard!" The family moved to a little farm in Bethel Springs, Tennessee when Joy was five. "We had a huge garden, and a milk cow, and chickens and hogs. My mother was a great manager!" Today, Joy is one of three surviving siblings. The other two are John Hurley of Bartlett and Ernest Hurley of Holladay, Tennessee. Four brothers, Everett, Tommy, Robert, and Allen, as well as their three sisters, Dorothy Lowry, Mildred Russom, and Shirley Flor, have passed on.
Joy attended elementary and high school in Bethel Springs, except for her 10th grade year. "When I was fifteen, I lived for a year in Memphis with my brother's family to baby sit his kids. I attended Frayser High School. The next year I went back to Bethel Springs and finished high school there," she says.
After graduation, Joy came back to Memphis. She stayed with her brother and his family again, and worked as a file clerk for International Harvester on West Olive for two years.
"Then I met a boy from New York and got married," she said. "We moved to the Bronx in New York City. From there we moved to Mt. Vernon, New York, and then back to Memphis."
Though the marriage ended, Joy was blessed with three children - two girls and one boy. Her first child is Karissa Kadlec Taylor. She lives in Oviedo, Florida with her husband, Tim, and their three children: Jared, Brandon, and Grace. Her second child is Michelle Kadlec Elliot. She and her husband, Kevin, are missionaries with Greater Europe Mission. They live in France with their two children, Victoria and Grant. Joy's son, Thomas Kadlec, lives in Collierville. He is single and works as a computer programmer.
Some time after the divorce, Joy needed help with her taxes. She made an appointment with a CPA and liked him. And who wouldn't, because the man in question was our Mr. Tom Ashworth, best described as a gracious, courtly gentleman.
Tom also has children of his own. His daughter, Kim Ashworth Miller, lives in Jackson, Mississippi with her two children, Reed and Kendall. His son, Tom, Jr., is married to Erin and they live with their two children, Frankie and Nicholas, in Crestview, Florida.
Thomas "Tom" Ashworth is Memphis-born. He is the son of John and Fanchyon Bennett Ashworth, and has one brother, John W. Ashworth, Jr., who lives in Collierville. All Tom's schooldays, grades 1 - 12 were spent at Messick., where he graduated in 1954. Then he attended four years at Memphis State and graduated with a degree in accounting.
Tom's first post-college job was in the accounting department at South Central Bell. Then he worked for the firm of Ernst and Ernst for six years, then started his own CPA firm.
It was during that time that he met Joy. "I guess we sort of had an acquaintance for several months. She called and asked me to play tennis. Then she asked me to go with her, as a favor, to look at a house. I was looking at her legs!" he well remembers. "Pretty soon after, I started getting interested. We went to a cousin's wedding together and I asked her to marry me. We got married a couple of months later."
The ceremony took place at Tom's church, Waring Rd. Baptist Church. Joy, who was also a Baptist, was a member of Union Avenue Baptist Church. After their marriage, the Ashworths joined Second Presbyterian Church. Then they moved to Byhalia where they had built a new home with the look and feel of a lovely vintage country home. It overlooks a lake and the natural beauty surrounding it. One special feature of their home is a huge, wooden door that came from their previous home. They actually constructed the house with the intent of showcasing that beautiful door.
With the move, they wanted a church nearer to their home. At the time, Joy's son, Thomas, attended ECS and many of his friends were members of Central Church. So, they checked Central out and made their move in 1985. They joined the Overcomers Sunday School Class. It was taught by Jerry Taylor at the time, then by Gene Field, and now by Bill Berry and K.C. Winters.
Tom retired a few years ago at age 63. He enjoys spending time with his wife, and making very extraordinarily beautiful knives.
Tom's advice to young people is, "Stay close to the Lord." His own greatest challenge has been Joy's illness. She was diagnosed with cancer eleven years ago. She was first operated on in 1995, next in 1998, and finally in 2000 at M.D. Anderson in Houston, Texas. At that time her left leg and pelvis were removed. In May 2005, they found that the cancer was back and had spread extensively in her vital organs. She entered the hospice program five months later to wait for Jesus to take her home. Her favorite song, "Going Home" is comforting to her and she wants it to be sung at her funeral service. What a wonderful testimony of her trust in Jesus and His faithfulness.
Her physical strength is waning, but as Tom says, "Remember her short, three-letter name: JOY. She was well named." The Joy of The Lord Is My Strength, says the old chorus. Joy and Tom both draw their strength from the Lord. And as His Word tells us in Romans 15:13:
Now the God of hope fill you with all JOY and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope, by the power of the Holy Spirit."
Tom and Joy, you are a blessing to our church and your lives are a testimony to the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
[Joy went to be with the Lord on July 14, 2007.]
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