Life Celebration Services will go forth at the City of Refuge Church in Campti, LA Saturday, October 27, 2018, 11:00 a. m.  The casketed remains will lie in state at the church Saturday morning from 9:30 until service time.  Interment will follow at the St. Titus Baptist Church Cemetery near Campti, LA.

Joyce Elaine Sowell Johnson, 63, of Campti passed away at her home on October 18, 2018 after a brief illness and hospitalization. Her daughters were by her side when she entered eternal rest with the Lord. She was born to Alma Lee Sowell(deceased) on March 3, 1955 in Shreveport, Louisiana. She was raised in the loving home of close relatives Roy Holden Sr.(deceased) and Eula Lee Holden(deceased). She confessed Christ at an early age and regularly attended Saint Savior Baptist Church as a child.

Joyce graduated from Natchitoches Central High School in 1974. She married Leonard Johnson Sr. in 1972; and became the cherished daughter-in-law of Mathew Johnson Sr.(deceased) and Ica Lee Johnson(deceased).  Together, Joyce and Leonard Sr. began an entrepreneurial journey that spanned 45 years and included used cars, laundromats, restaurants, furniture restoration, flea markets, and antiquities. The latter two she continued in until her brief illness and death.

Joyce loved spending time with her family. Every birthday and holiday gathering was a joyous occasion that she treasured and was always one of the last ones to leave.

Her hobbies were collecting and transplanting different varieties of wild flowers and canna lillies. She also enjoyed putting together artificial flower arrangements. Watching birds and squirrels play in the oak and pecan trees of her daughter's yard was also a favorite enjoyment.

She was always excited and ready to share the Good News of Salvation in Jesus Christ with everyone she met. She would frequently give, God's Promises for Your Every Need, Bible scripture book as a gift to others for various occasions.

She also loved her customers, many becoming close friends who would stop by her store often times just to talk and laugh.

She never met a stranger and she also never hesitated to help anyone in need.

She always expressed her gratitude to God from bringing her from a life of poverty, to a loving foster home, and to being a business owner.

She was proceeded in death by two brothers: Freddie Lavonne Hart and Cleveland Holden; four sisters: Marilyn Ann Hart Thompson, Eyvonne Hart, Sharon Cornwell, and Sarah Cornwell.

She leaves to cherish her memory, her loving husband of 46 years, Leonard Johnson Sr., four children: Eulair Johnson(Tyrone Rachal), Leonard Johnson Jr.(Tynell) Johnson of Houston, Tarlisha Hudson (Kenneth), Trieventis Johnson(Myeshia), twelve grandchildren: Aaliyah Johnson, Daja Howard, Tyren Rachal, Abeni Johnson, Neema Johnson, Zaira Johnson, Gabrielle Johnson, Mathew Johnson IV, Simon Messeng Mba, Joseph Hudson, Nalajah Johnson, and Madison Johnson, three great-grandchildren: Railee Johnson, Layla Slate, and Nyla Slate, six brothers: Earl Cornwell(Sheila) of Houston, Charles Cornwell of Houston, Dennis Cornwell(Maxine) of Shreveport, Thomas Cornwell, Shaw Holden of Natchitoches, and Kent Foster of Natchitoches, six sisters: Virginia Sowell of Shreveport, Almetta "Cleo" Bush Cheeks of Houston, Deloris Cornwell of Natchitoches, Gloria Freeman Cornwell of Campti, Tessie Brown of Natchitoches, and Julia Evans of Natchitoches. And a host of nieces, nephew, family, and friends.