Joyce Elaine Rainey Prochnow Dwiggins went to be with the Lord on May 6, 2026, at the age of ninety-seven.
Born on May 20, 1928, in Lansing, Joyce lived a vibrant and extraordinary life defined by intelligence, humor, resilience, adventure, and deep devotion to family and community. Spunky to the very end, she had a quick wit, an independent spirit, and a remarkable ability to make people laugh while making them feel welcome and loved.
She grew up in Goodrich, then a small agricultural farming community, southeast of Flint. Her parents, Jennie Ruth (Kintigh) and Duane F. Rainey, were both educators, her father serving as superintendent of schools and her mother teaching home economics. During her childhood and throughout World War II, Joyce immersed herself in school and community activities, participating in 4-H clubs, band, orchestra, basketball, track, glee club, the school newspaper, yearbook, and school plays. She often recalled the realities of wartime life: rationing of gas, sugar, meat, butter, and nylons; listening to President Franklin Roosevelt’s fireside chats; and practicing marches in the school gym (reason unbeknownst to her) during blackout drills.
Entertainment in those days required creativity, and she delighted in reminiscing about games of Monopoly, kick-the-can, tag football, and winter ice skating on the pond with friends. Trips to the movies required traveling eleven miles to Davison, and shopping meant a fifteen-mile drive to Flint. Those trips took considerable time at the wartime speed limit of thirty-five miles per hour.
Even as a young girl, her strong work ethic and humor shone through. One of her earliest jobs involved selling night crawlers to fishermen from a roadside stand after soaking the backyard lawn and gathering worms by flashlight with her father. She also delivered a magazine her parents would not allow her to read and later worked as a telephone operator using a plug-in switchboard, cheerfully answering calls with, “Number, please?” and then connecting the caller to the home by ringing the appropriate number of times depending on the number of “parties” (homes) on the party line.
A proud graduate of Goodrich High School in 1945, she was valedictorian of her class and excelled in academics, athletics, music, theater, and journalism. She played saxophone in the band, violin in the orchestra, sang in chorus and a sextet, edited the yearbook, worked on the school paper, and starred in school plays. In basketball, she became the senior-year high point scorer and helped her team win the Class C championship (at 4’11” tall!).
Eager to leave what she affectionately called “boring Goodrich,” she attended Michigan State College (now University), where she earned a bachelor of science degree, graduating cum laude while receiving an alumni scholarship. She joined the Delta Zeta Sorority and was inducted into Omicron Nu, Kappa Delta Pi, and Tower Guard honor societies. Majoring in home economics education with minors in science and English, she recalled one professor stating that if they accepted a teaching salary above $2,250 a year, they weren’t worth it. It was a clear example of sexism in those days. She proudly accepted $2,500!
Her first teaching position was at Niles High School, where she taught ninth grade for two years. She later moved to Ann Arbor and spent twenty-six years teaching in the Ann Arbor Public Schools system at Slauson, Forsythe, and Tappan junior high schools, and Huron High School. She taught home economics, English, and speech, earning the admiration of generations of students. During those years, she also pursued graduate studies at the University of Michigan and earned a master of science degree in counseling from the University of Wisconsin.
Adventure was one of the hallmarks of Joyce’s life. In 1954, she and a friend boarded a student ship bound for Europe, beginning a ten-week journey through England, Scotland, Denmark, Holland, Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, and France. She stayed in hostels, tiny hotels, and even a truck stop, collecting memories and treasures along the way: wool suits from England, cashmere sweaters from Scotland, Danish jewelry, Hummels from Germany, Italian leather, and a Swiss watch. She often laughed that the entire ten-week adventure, including purchases, cost only $1,700.
She later traveled extensively throughout the world, visiting Greece, Turkey, Poland, Hawaii, Japan, Hong Kong, Mexico, and much of Europe, while also enjoying numerous Caribbean and Pacific coast cruises. She loved golf resorts, bridge games (a Masterpoints earner), concerts, theater, and especially skiing. An enthusiastic downhill skier and slalom water skier, she remained active on the slopes and lakes until age seventy-five.
She married Walter Prochnow in 1957, and together they had two daughters, Kathy and Karen. After stepping away from teaching to raise her first child, she later returned to education part-time at Forsythe and Tappan before teaching at Huron High until retirement. Years later, through a family connection and a twist of fate, she reconnected with Bruce Dwiggins, whom she had first met during her early years at Michigan State. They married in 1984 and built a joyful life together between Ann Arbor and Decatur, where Bruce worked as a chemical engineer.
While living in Decatur, Joyce took tax preparation courses through H&R Block after becoming frustrated with errors on her own tax returns. Her talent was quickly recognized, and she worked part-time as a tax preparer for eight years following retirement from teaching.
Family remained the center of her world. She treasured summers spent at the family cabin in Canada east of Sault Ste. Marie, where children and grandchildren gathered to swim, ski, snorkel, and laugh together. She delighted in attending grandchildren’s sporting events, cheering on karate lessons, and simply being close to those she loved.
Joyce is survived by her two daughters Kathy (Paul) Marx and Karen Prochnow; her five grandchildren Ella (Charlotte Chamandy) Marx, Evan Marx, Mason Stranahan, Max Stranahan, and Brianna (Bailey) Brackney; and her beloved great-granddaughter, Emma Brackney. She is also survived by her loving husband’s children: Mark (Mary) Dwiggins, Paul (Cathy) Dwiggins, John (Laurell) Dwiggins, Suzanne (Alan) Kaeble, and Sarah (Dan) Simser, along with grandchildren Maggie, Michael, Bradley, James, Daniel, Stephen, and Sam Dwiggins, Christine Zilisch, Brian, Peter, and Sean Kaelble, Grace, Teddy and Jacob Simser; and great-grandchildren Jacob, Wesley, and Alice Dwiggins, and Layla Zilisch. Additionally, she is survived by several nieces, nephews, and cousins.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Jennie Ruth Rainey and Duane F. Rainey; her brother, Max Rainey; her sister, Phyllis Johnston; her grandchild, Miles Dwiggins, and her beloved husband, Bruce Dwiggins.
A woman of deep faith, Joyce was a devoted member of Bethlehem United Church of Christ for more than sixty-five years. Golf remained one of the great joys of her life, and she was a proud member of Barton Hills Country Club for nearly seventy years. She also belonged to numerous golf and civic organizations, including the Republican Women’s Club, Numa Club, Ann Arbor Women’s Golf Association, University of Michigan Women’s Golf Association, Michigan Senior Women’s Golf Association, and the University of Michigan Alumni Association, where she was a life member. She was also a life member of the Michigan Education Association/National Education Association.
Always willing to contribute to the greater good, she participated in a cancer research study for more than twenty years and volunteered in the shingles vaccine study that contributed to FDA approval.
In later years, Joyce and Bruce made their home at Glacier Hills Senior Living Community, a community she had first learned about through former students who worked there while she taught at Huron. She enjoyed the friendships and activities she found there, though she deeply mourned Bruce following his passing.
Joyce will be remembered for her lively storytelling, intelligence, fearlessness, humor, style, and fierce independence. Whether on a ski slope or a golf course, in a classroom, around a bridge table, or gathered with family, she brought joy, laughter, and unmistakable spirit to every moment.
Her life was rich in adventure, accomplishment, friendship, and love … a life beautifully and fully lived.
The family is eternally grateful for the loving caregiving from Heavenly Hands Private Duty during her later years. A private memorial will take place in the summer. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Alzheimer’s Association or Arbor Hospice.