In Memoriam

Joyce Marie Lee Blackley

OCTOBER 07, 1938 – AUGUST 11, 2025

Joyce Marie Lee was born in Clayton on October 7, 1938, to the late T.R. and Lena Lee. She was their only daughter and grew up on the family farm with her parents and ten brothers.

Joyce graduated from Clayton High School in 1957. She met her future husband, Ernest, in 1958 when he visited the “Lee boys” with his cousin. She was immediately impressed by his sparkling blue eyes and the fact that he had a car. They married in 1959. Their marriage was an incredible love story.

In 1974, Joyce started working for the Methodist Conference in Raleigh as a secretary. When a new printing press was purchased, they asked if any of the employees were interested in learning to operate it. Joyce jumped at the chance, a decision that would change the course of her career. Three years later, she started her own printing business, Blackley’s Printing, in her home garage. In 1987, she moved her business to Main Street in Clayton. Joyce ran a successful business and continued to work well into her 80s, until her health no longer allowed it. People would often ask her why she hadn’t retired, and she responded that she worked not because she had to, but because she loved being around people.

Joyce loved downtown Clayton and its people. She thrived on being involved in her community and helping others. She served as Secretary of the Cooper Middle School PTA. She held various capacities, including membership in the Women’s Club of Clayton, the Clayton Chamber of Commerce (where she was President in 1980), the Clayton Rotary Club, the Halcyon Book Club, the Clayton Downtown Development Association, and Women in Networking.

Joyce received numerous awards for her community service, including Citizen of the Year, Small Business of the Year, and North Carolina Main Street Champion, among others. She and Ernest started the first Christmas Tree Lighting in downtown Clayton in 1990, which has grown into an annual townwide event that brings thousands of people to Main Street to celebrate the Christmas season.

Joyce joined the Clayton Rotary Club on September 1, 2006. Joyce was a Paul Harris Fellow Sustaining Member (a Rotarian who donates $100.00+ annually to the Rotary Foundation Annual Fund). Joyce lived the Rotary motto, “Service Above Self.”  Joyce and her husband, Ernest, stepped back from active membership in our Club, and we made them Honorary Members at the Clayton Rotary Park groundbreaking ceremony on October 5, 2019. 

Joyce passed away at the age of 86 on Monday, August 11, 2025. She will always be remembered fondly and is deeply missed.