Fullerton College Theatre Remembers Joyce Glen
Born during World War II, Joyce's dad was in the military for the duration. Joyce lived with her Norwegian grand parents in Mentor, Minnesota on a beautiful farm with seven male cousins as playmates. When Leroy mustered out of the service things changed and the family moved into a trailer park set up by the government to house the returning troops. The family started to build their first home on 6th Avenue. They moved into what would later become the garage while construction on the main portion of the house continued. Perhaps this experience is why Joyce felt a house was composed of a lot of building blocks that should be moved around. Joyce and I always seemed to be building and remodeling our homes, moving walls and repainting.
In elementary school and early high school Joyce started her life of creativity. First as a figure skater, then with a change of season, a landscape architect building a fish pond in her own backyard at age 10. Several years later, as a budding interior designer she flocked the family Christmas tree in her mothers newly painted living room. The walls had a decided pink color when the tree came down.
While still competing as a figure skater, Joyce started her artwork in Grand Forks by working for Colburn Sporting Goods and painting their Christmas windows. Many of the neighboring stores asked her to do their windows as well. She was always able to parallel process. Through skating, Joyce also acquired a love of music and dance. She became the youngest person to choreograph at her high school, and continued to develop her talents choreographing many college musical productions at the University of North Dakota. To supplement her income, Joyce earned extra money by entering and winning numerous ballroom dancing competitions.
Joyce eventually grew tired of the cold weather in North Dakota and was lured to the warmer climate of Arizona. In Arizona, she continued her pursuit of dance and art by enrolling at Arizona State University in Tempe. One year, her college roommate invited her to visit Whittier, California for a Christmas holiday. That "sealed the deal" for Joyce. Being able to go outside in December without three coats, a hat, mittens, and boots was too good to be true. In 1963, Joyce moved to California for good. She told me many stories of those early years as a small town girl learning about the big city, culture, and history of California. Most, of course, were tales that left us laughing and smiling about her naiveté.
Following her arrival in California in 1963, Joyce worked as a freelance interior designer in both commercial and residential projects. Many of the residential accounts were completed for clients while they were traveling. Joyce embraced the responsibility that came with having complete design control while creating a newly decorated home for her clients to return to. They were always surprised and delighted with her efforts.
Joyce's mother Odelia kept the family together during the early years by working as a hairdresser. She encouraged Joyce to get her cosmetology license, which she did. With her creative talents she developed a chain of hair salons with Louis Sciarrotta, her first husband. She was the super woman, able to do it all; mother, wife, career businesswoman, builder, inventor of a beauty product line, nurturer, women's rights activist, volunteer and adventurer. Her priorities were always focused, with family and friends coming first.
In 1984 Joyce entered into my life when she was getting ready to graduate from Fullerton College with an Associate of Arts degree. We met in a stage makeup class where she was my very best student. She continued on and graduated from California State University with a Bachelor of Arts in theatre. She decided to finish her Master's program as fast as possible, completing the two-year playwriting and dramatic criticism program in one year to the amazement of all her professors. Her Master thesis was purchased and produced by the university with critical acclaim in all the local newspapers. She has completed over a dozen legitimate theatre and motion picture scripts.
While pursuing her education in California, Joyce developed a theatre company for elementary students at Fullerton College. This project resulted in original theatre productions written, acted, and produced by the students. The project also afforded the opportunity for many college students to work as her assistant learning how to stimulate, encourage and interact with children.
Due in large part to her Viking heritage, Joyce never passed on an opportunity to travel. Her sense of adventure led her to a first "trip of a lifetime" to central Europe to explore and sample Italian food. This was followed by a month long trip to South America with Sharron Kramer, a life long friend. She then traveled to Korea for three months working on Lotte World, an indoor amusement park. Working with the Anti-Defamation League, she hosted a group of Ethiopian high school students from Israel and took a group of Los Angeles and Orange County high school students to Israel for another "trip of a life time." Joyce and I were lucky to travel the United States extensively and in 2002 she gave me my "trip of a life time". We traveled to Norway for a month long tour. Fulfilling a life long dream of hers, we visited Norkapp, the most northern part of main land Norway, to celebrate the midnight sun and the summer solstice. The border between Russia and Norway is still waiting for us to hike, maybe next summer.
Around 1990 the two of us joined a search and rescue team in Orange County. Joyce discovered she loved working with the mountain climbing gear and playing Peter Pan as she slid down the 200-foot zip line. As a major organizer, she worked with the Anaheim Fire Department, California Department of Forestry, and Chino Hill State Park as a Captain of the Orange County Search & Rescue Academy. We both worked in the recovery and rescue effort following the Northridge earthquake and made a two-day presentation for earthquake preparedness for the city of Huntington Beach.
As the years passed we decided a dog in the family would be good. We lived in a townhouse so the dog would have to be small, white (we had a white tile floor), and tough (we liked to backpack in the Sierras). This introduced us to Jack Russell Terriers and a new phase of our lives. The first terrier was Braque, his name chosen after the painter, Braque, because of the colors black, brown and 90% white. He was a very small puppy when he came home with us. We were going to the Sierras where it might be cold and rainy so Joyce decided he really needed a coat. An old pair of Levis with a fleece lining was the first jacket. Being one member of an all weather family, Joyce quickly saw the need for a raincoat and matching hat with brim. Braque was a small dog and therefore not easily able to cover terrain at the same pace as his active owners. The need to stay on the go led to one more design, the "terrier pouch action pack". The action gear was so well received by other dog owners that Braque Outfitters, an international dog gear company, was born. It was funded by two $50 birthday checks from Leroy and Odelia, Joyce¹s parents. The next seven years were referred to as the "dog years". We made dog jackets, snoodle bags, Action Packs, and four legged snowsuits for many of our four legged friends. It took two years to close the business when we too our lives back from "the dog years". Clients always seemed to find our home phone number when they needed just one more special something for that special four legged someone.
Joyce made our life together fun and exciting. We were . . . ARE a team. There was little we could not do together. Our last large project was our own residence. Every wall was moved, textured, and painted by Joyce and myself. In 2000, we moved here for her health. With the help of our friends were able to perform the transformation of an ugly duckling rental into a warm and friendly home that one can hug (wrap your arms around a "ropas column" and give her a squeeze).
As this "construction years" stage of our life was coming to an end, Joyce returned to art and the community. She enrolled in the Saddleback College Emeritus program, taking drawing and watercolor classes. She loved to draw and paint and worked with our grand children to help them learn the love of life and to explore it¹s many possibilities. In keeping with her life long love of children, she also spent time volunteering at the Dana Point Ocean Institute. Through this volunteer work, she continued to enrich the lives of all the children she met.
Over the years Joyce loved researching our family trees. Each name she found in the genealogical search of our family roots made us who we are. She gave me a family, Louis and Andrea and the grand children. Joyce also located my birth mother, my sisters, Penny, Elaine, and Barbara, and my brother Jim. She was also able to do this for my sister Sue, giving her a family history. She has helped make our lives complete. She said that as each name was added to the family history it was one more link in the chain of life. I know that her link in the family tree will be the shiniest one there.
Some of us have known Joyce in a single phase of her life. Several of us have known her through many. One thing Joyce wants for all of us is to live a happy and joyous life. Give your loved one an enthusiastic hug as Joyce would. She was a great hugger.
Joyce was born in Grand Forks, North Dakota August 14, 1942 to Leroy Ellsworth Nichols of Fergus Falls, Minnesota and Odelia C. Monson of Hatton, North Dakota. A few years later little brother Dan arrived.
Married Louis Sciarrotta 1968
Gave birth to two children:
Louis F. Sciarrotta, born January 6, 1969
Andrea M. Sciarrotta, born Dec. 5, 1971
Married Todd V. Glen December 27, 1988
Gained two additional children:
Sean T. Glen 12-13-64
Erin C. Glen 8-21-67
Died December 1, 2004 in Monarch Beach, CA.