The sun rises over a lake in Southeast Asia. Portrait of Joyce Watson. IMB Photo
Joyce Watson, an International Mission Board missionary emeritus who shared the gospel in the Philippines, died April 27, 2025, in Dalton, Arkansas. She was 91.
Joyce was born Jan. 6, 1934, in Dallas, Texas, to the late Jeff Harrison Daniel and Ruby Leigh Daniel. She graduated from James Bowie High School in Simms, Texas, and received the Bachelor of Science from East Texas Baptist College (now East Texas Baptist University), Marshall, Texas.
She came to saving faith in Christ at the age of 8. After high school graduation, she worked as a stenographer before entering college in January of 1953. While seeking missionary appointment she wrote, “During a campus revival … I made a public surrender of my life to do whatever the Lord wanted me to, sincerely wanting to be in the center of His will. I had been bothered for some time by a question in my mind: ‘Lord, do you want me to be a missionary?’ … I waited for the Lord to reveal the next step in His will for my life, confident that if I committed my way unto Him, He would ‘direct my path.’”
During the spring of 1955, she began corresponding with Harold Watson who was in the U.S. Air Force and stationed in Okinawa. She recalled, “One day he told me God was calling him to be an agricultural missionary. … Was this His way, I wondered, of revealing His will; was this the answer to the question that still lingered in the back of my mind?” They were married on Aug. 25, 1956.
She worked as a secretary while Harold went to college and seminary. In 1961, they moved to Mississippi where Harold taught vocational agriculture, and she stayed home with their sons while taking an active role in church life. She wrote, “These years have been richly rewarding ones as we have seen the Lord continue to guide our lives.”
In 1964, the International Mission Board appointed Harold and Joyce missionaries to the Philippines. Together, they founded the Rural Life Center (RLC), Asian Rural Life Development Foundation and other rural life projects across Asia. She served as business manager and wrote her own computer payroll programs. Her family said she was the consummate hostess and cook and graciously welcomed thousands of yearly visitors, from farmers to dignitaries.
She is survived by her husband of 68 years, Harold Ray Watson; her children, Jim Watson (Vicki), Dan Watson (Susan), and Mark Watson (Tammy); 17 grandchildren and 25 great grandchildren.
A funeral service was held May 3 at Wynndale Baptist Church in Terry, Mississippi, with burial in Providence Baptist Cemetery, Eatonville.
Donations in her memory may be made to the Lottie Moon Offering, IMB, 3806 Monument Avenue, Richmond, VA 23230, or online at Generosity Resource Center – IMB Generosity.
Read an obituary here.
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