Joyce Leigh (Wentworth) McPhee

West Bath - Joyce McPhee died peacefully in her home on September 12th, 2020 after a brief illness.

Joyce was born in Garland, Maine on August 5, 1931 to Ruth (Frost) and Fred McClure Wentworth.  She grew up among four generations of extended families on a small farm in Dexter, Maine during the Depression.  In the early 1940s, the family moved for work in wartime shipbuilding, settling in Bath and building a home on the Kennebec River in the North End of the City.

Joyce graduated from Morse High School in 1950, and married her high school sweetheart Wesley McPhee in October, 1950.  In 1957, Joyce and Wes moved from Bath to a new home that they built in West Bath.

            Joyce was a fulltime homemaker for many years.  In the 1980s, she worked in the school lunch program in Bath, eventually being head cook for several years at the Huse Elementary School.

            Over the years, she volunteered with the Morse High Band Boosters and the Bath Food Bank.  In earlier years, Joyce and Wes were active with the United Methodist Church in Bath and the Eastern Star.

            Joyce loved and enjoyed her family and had great love for animals and flowers.  She was proud of the home, and it was important to her that she be able to be at home as long as possible.

            Joyce was predeceased in 2015 by her husband, Wesley.  

She is survived by her sons: The Rev. James McPhee (and his husband Kevin Butler) and David McPhee (and his partner Terry Tripp Roy); two grandsons: Jacob Lee-McPhee (and his wife Amanda) and Matthew A. McPhee.  Most recently, she was delighted with her great grandson Wesley Lee-McPhee.  Also surviving her: Cousins, Sandra Piatti and her husband James of New Jersey, Greg Frost and his wife Trish of Wayne, New Jersey and Raymond Alvarez of Florida; niece, CJ Cameron; nephews, Stephen and Gary McPhee of Utah.

            Joyce also loved the caregivers who did so much for her in recent years: Brenda Cobb of Brunswick and Connie Butson of Phippsburg.

            Memorial donations may be made in Joyce's memory to:  Kennebec Valley Humane Society, 10 Pethaven Lane, Augusta, Maine 04330

To share your thoughts and condolences with the family, please visit www.desmondfuneralhomes.com

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Joyce Leigh (Wentworth) McPhee, please visit our floral store.