Joan Carolyn (Rice) Broadway

Joan Carolyn Rice Broadway, 83, was greeted by her Lord and Savior on Monday, May 27, 2024 after a long illness.  A native of Kinston, she was the only child of the Reverend Clifton Taylor Rice and Dorris Lucille Lanier Rice.  As the daughter of a pastor, Joan learned about serving others from a young age. As a small child she made cameo appearances on her father’s radio show, and she accompanied her parents as they ministered to people and congregations all over Eastern North Carolina.  

Joan had a lifelong love of music which she passed on to her children.  Joan made music an integral part of every day. She was an accomplished pianist and a talented singer.  While in high school, she was the featured soloist with the Grainger High Singers. As a part of her school choir, she performed up and down the East Coast. She also used her talents in church by playing the piano, singing and conducting the choir.

Upon her graduation from Grainger High School, she attended the Women’s College of the University of North Carolina in Greensboro, North Carolina (now UNC Greensboro).  After college, she returned home to Kinston, and on October 8, 1961 she married her beloved husband, Murrell Ray Broadway.

Joan loved and served the Lord her entire life and was a member of First Free Will Baptist Church, Westside Free Will Baptist Church, Spilman Baptist Church, and finally Faith Fellowship Church in Kinston.  She was a loving daughter, wife, mother, grandmother, and great grandmother.  For many years, she worked in the family business, Rice Monument Works of Kinston, started by her father when she was a year old.  She assisted many families with her kind spirit and words of wisdom at very trying times of their lives. Her kindness and her servant’s heart were present in every aspect of her life. She often served as a listening ear and shoulder to cry on for community members, friends, family and even strangers. She was also an advocate for families of disabled children throughout the region and fought locally for the rights of disabled persons, especially children, both before and after the Americans with Disabilities Act was established.
Although she enjoyed her work, her priority was her family.  Her love for her husband, children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren is displayed in their lives by the values she instilled in them and will live on as what she felt was the greatest part of her legacy.  She was not only a mother to just her children, but also a mother figure to friends and acquaintances of her children.

She was preceded in death by her loving husband of 62 years, Murrell; her beloved parents, Reverend Clifton & Dorris Rice; her in-laws, William “Bill” & Doris Broadway.  Also, her special niece, Jennifer Krochmalny Shagena; and great niece, Jayda Katherine Shagena.  

She is survived by her children -- Jeffrey Rice Broadway and wife Michael of Kinston; Patrick Ray Broadway of Cary;  Jill Elizabeth Wikoff and husband Matthew of Middletown, DE; and Scott Broadway and wife Erin.  By her favorite sister-in-law -- Kay Broadway Manning and husband Ray of Greenville.  By her Granddaughters -- Emily Broadway Haysom and husband Derek of Houston, TX; Hannah Broadway Goktan and husband Devrim of Fort Collins, CO; Caroline Elizabeth Wikoff; Rachel Elizabeth Broadway; Lydia Ruth Broadway; and Joanna Grace Broadway. By her Great-grandsons -- Harris “Harry” Rice Haysom; George Hutter Haysom; Clifton Walker Haysom, who is due to be born in June; Joshua Tanner Goktan; and William Finley Goktan.  And by her special nephew -- Daniel Lee Krochmalny; and her special great nephew Zeke Krochmalny of Greenville, NC. 

The family would also like to extend its gratitude to the caregivers of Helping Hands Assisted Living in Goldsboro, as well as Gentiva Hospice Care.  In the ways that they treated their patients like family, they left no doubt that they are people who love their jobs and care about not only their patients, but their patients’ loved ones.

Visitation will be held from 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. on Wednesday, May 29 at Howard & Carter Funeral Home.  Funeral services will be held Thursday, May 30 at 10:00 a.m. at Faith Fellowship Church with Pastor John Robert Harris officiating.  Burial will follow the service at Westview Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made in Joan’s memory to Faith Fellowship Church, 2278 Pauls Path Road, Kinston, NC 28504.