Joyce Ann James Obituary

Joyce Ann James, 82, of Portia, Arkansas, passed away on April 25, 2026 at Lawrence Memorial Hospital, Walnut Ridge, Arkansas. She was born on October 21, 1943 in Wynne, Arkansas to Ollie B Starkey & Dollie Elvira King Starkey. She was a loving daughter, a loving sister to eleven siblings, a loving mother of two, a loving grandmother of nine, a loving great grandmother of sixteen, a loving pup grandmother of two, and a loving Mama JJ of several.

She was the loving daughter of the late Ollie B Starkey & Dollie Elvira King Starkey. She was proceeded in death by her late ex-husband and father of her two children Walter Elgen Bayles and her late husband Barbry (Bobbie) James. Two sisters - Nona Pauline Starkey, and Addie Marie Hertz. Four brothers - Robert Lee Starkey, L.B. Starkey, Thomas Earl Starkey, Kenneth Harold Starkey.

She was survived by two sisters - Bonnie Sue Wilson of Hoxie, AR, and Brenda Kay Gray of Wynne, AR. Three brothers - James Elton Starkey of Garfield, AR, David Lee Starkey of Portland, OR, and Wilfred Allen Starkey of Wynne, AR. A son Allen Bayles (Cory Elaine) of Cave City, AR and a daughter Barbara (Barbie) Bayles of Portia, AR. Six granddaughters Cheryl Adams of Walnut Ridge, Stacy Adams of IN, Jennifer Cupp of Cave City, AR, Tracy Jones of Cave City, AR, Kasidy Jones of Batesville, AR, Jodie Jones of WI. Three grandsons Rickey Adams of Jonesboro, Walter Bayles II of Melbourne, AR, Mitchel Bayles of Walnut Ridge. Two grandpups and sixteen great grandchildren and two children she was a Mama JJ to.

A celebration of life will be held on Friday, May 15, 2026 at 3:30 p.m. at Main Street Church of Christ, 319 E. Main Street, Walnut Ridge, Arkansas.