1940 – 2003

PORTLAND – Joyce Forsyth, 63, formerly of Mexico, went to be with her Lord Tuesday, Sept. 23, after a long battle with cancer.

She was born June 24, 1940, in Waterville, a daughter of Charles V. Forsyth and the late Alice Mountfort Forsyth of Portland. She was a graduate of Deering High School, New Brunswick (Can.) Bible Institute, and the Maine School of Practical Nursing in Waterville.

After becoming a Licensed Practical Nurse, she worked for a short time at a nursing home in Portland.

On Sept. 24, 1962, she was asked to serve as a part-time worker in Maine for Child Evangelism Fellowship, an international children’s ministry that works closely with local churches.

CEF trains adults and teens to teach children about the Lord Jesus Christ, about the importance of living by Biblical standards, and about eternal life in heaven which we can look forward to and enjoy forever.

Two months later she was made manager and treasurer of the CEF Bookstore, as well as field worker, under the direction of Edna Sawyer Welbourn, State Director.

She stated that her “part time became overtime in no time”, as her responsibilities took her throughout the state of Maine, developing and organizing children’s programs. She moved to Mexico to work with local churches in 1965; in 1966 the program had grown to the extent that the state was divided into chapters, and she was appointed Western Maine Director, responsible for Franklin, Oxford and Kennebec counties.

Her favorite ministries were training teachers and directing the work at the county fairs. She and her staff attended many of the fairs with the Chapel on Wheels (nicknamed “the COW”), seeing hundreds of children and parents each summer and fall, showing movies and doing face painting. She completed her 41st year of ministry on the day of her passing.

She is survived by her father; her sister, Marie Forsyth Riddle and husband Chuck of Portland: two nephews, Keith C. Riddle and wife Heather, of Chattanooga, Tenn., and Drew T. Riddle of Portland; two great-nieces, Katie Anne and Emily Marie of Chattanooga; and many aunts, uncles and cousins.