JOYCE J. RUSSELL, 85, of Belvidere, IL, died peacefully on December 11, 2020, at Maple Crest Care Center in Belvidere. She was born January 18, 1935, daughter to Harry W. and Amollia (Huff) Sawyer. She married her sweetheart, the late George Russell, Sr. on March 17, 1951, at the First United Methodist Parsonage in Belvidere. She attended Belvidere High School. She worked for Woodstock Die Casting and Arnold Engineering and later worked in the realestate field. She also worked for Zenk's and The Boone Docksin Poplar Grove. She was baptized at Blaine United Methodist Church. Joyce loved antiques, garage sales, animals, and birds. She was a supporter of unions due to her father, Harry, being in the union at the National Sewing Machine Company. in Belvidere. Her husband was in the Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 23 Union, and she wasso proud that her three sons and two grandsons followed in his footsteps and were all union members of Local 23 in Rockford. Joyce is loved and will be dearly missed by her daughter, Cheryl (Lyle) Russell-Smith,and sons, Darryll (Dona) Russell, George (Theresa) Russell, Jr. and Michael (Sandy) Russell; grandchildren, Michele (Shane) Fitch, Brandon Smith, Brian (Mandi) Russell, Angela (Joshua) Myers, Ryan Russell and Samantha Russell; and 14 great-grandchildren.She is preceded in death by her parents; her husband; her daughter, Vickie M. Russell in 1988, her grandson, Dustin J. Smith in 2011, and her nephew, Gary Gaby. Joyce was the youngest of six siblings, who all predeceased her: Two sisters, Shirley (Donald) Radcliffe and Charlotte (Clarence) Gaby; and three brothers: Francis (Mike) (Mary) Sawyer; David (Lil) Sawyer, and Stanley (Joan) Sawyer.Services will be private. Burial at Belvidere Cemetery.Pastor Braun Campbell of Immanuel Lutheran Church will officiate. A memorial in her honor can be made to the family; she spent many hours at Belvidere Park during her youth, and a bench memorial will be placed in Belvidere Park at a later date If you would like to leave a memory for the family, please visitwww.AndersonFCS.com.