Ed and Joyce came to Grande Prairie from Stettler to buy an insurance business and never looked back. Raising a family and running and building their business Prairie Villa Insurance, they became engrained in the community through various organizations such as Kinsmen, Kinettes, Rotary and the Shriners.
“Community meant a lot to us and we both worked in the community a lot,” says Joyce.
It was that connection that Joyce, her daughter Cindy and son-in-law Brent Oilund focused in on when deciding to set up a fund with the Community Foundation in memory of Ed.
“I think Ed would be pleased that this was something in his memory. He really cared about community,” says Joyce.
In setting up the Donor Advised Ed Boyce Memorial Fund, Joyce and her family take the reins each year and look at projects and events that are important to them and make recommendations for grants.
“I guess because I am a senior citizen and when Ed passed away, the Seniors Center helped me out with quite a few things. I could see that there are a lot of people that need those services, and so that is why I chose this area,” explains Joyce when asked about supporting the Seniors Outreach program in 2015. “It is probably more to do with this time of my life as a senior, but I just felt that that was a good place to offer my help for now.”
The Ed Boyce Memorial Fund has impacted many organizations in our region including the Grande Prairie Hospice Palliative Care Society programing and school snack programs through the Grande Prairie Public School Foundation.
For Joyce and her family, the ability to give back to any part of the community in Ed’s name, both in Grande Prairie and the surrounding area, through the Community Foundation holds great appeal.
“I just think that I am so glad that I am in Grande Prairie! I love it! I guess it’s not different than any other community, but when it becomes your community that’s when it makes the difference,” she says.
