SUN CITY, Calif. and PRESQUE ISLE – L. Joyce Gilbert, died Dec. 19, 2003, at her home in California after suffering a long illness. She was born Sept. 2, 1924, in Presque Isle, the daughter of Roy and Neva Shanks Johnston. She graduated from Presque Isle High School in 1941and worked at the Presque Isle Air Force base until 1944. She then moved to California and worked in the film industry until 1956. She returned to Maine and worked for WAGM-TV Film Director and Assistant Production Manager. In 1960, she returned to California and worked for Technicolor Corp. in Hollywood as head of the 8mm film department. She left the film industry in 1974 to return once again to Maine and care for her ailing mother. She ran a boarding home for the next 16 years. During that time she was active in the Presque Isle Golf Course and served as president of the Women’s League. She attended NMTC and graduated with honors with a degree in applied science and a major in business administration management at age 71. She was Phi Theta Kappa. She had also worked as a carhop in Hollywood, a telegraph operator for Western Union and a program director at A.R. Gould Memorial Hospital. She retired in 1996 and moved back to California to live near her daughter. Joyce Gilbert was a talented singer. She also played piano and violin. She loved music, the arts and was a voracious reader. She was an avid golfer and hunter. She built a camp at Portage Lake in the 1950s and spent many days there with her daughter and grandchildren. She was a pioneer in gaining acceptance for women in the TV and motion picture industries. She was a successful, well-respected businesswoman, but above all she loved her family. She is survived by her daughter, Bonnie Gilbert Shumaker and her husband, Claude; three grandchildren, Jon Lewis of Nobleboro, Rian Lewis of Woolwich and Carlie Lewis McCarthy of Lewiston; two stepgrandsons, Timothy and Christopher Shumaker of Santa Clarita, Calif.; one niece; one nephew; two stepdaughters and seven great-grandchildren. Her ex-husband, Robert Gilbert; her brother, Lawrence Johnston and her sister, Thelma predeceased her. Memorial services will be held 1 p.m. Saturday, May 1, 2004, at Fairmount Cemetery in Presque Isle. Arrangements in the care of Duncan-Graves Funeral Home, Presque Isle.
L. JOYCE GILBERT
