Joyce Lathan Woodhouse

When Cooper was young he always wanted to see Grandmommy. As soon as his parents would allow him, he would walk to her condo. As soon as he got his drivers license, he drove to see her. Cooper would use his own money, (sort of) to bring her sub sandwiches. As her days became fewer and fewer, Cooper was always by her side.

You have to give Wilson credit. He had just had a heart attack. He was cut from neck to knee. He could not get out of bed. But he wanted to throw mom a retirement party for the ages. And boy did he. and it was a surprise. He called Betty Ann who got to work. Roughly 85-100 people attended. Special surprise guests included: The Honorable U.S. Senator and former Governor Terry Sanford and Mrs. Margret Rose Sanford. Senator Sanford flew from Ohio and Mrs. Sanford for the event. As she said that night, Roberto Gomez was her third son and he would not miss it. State Senator J.K. Sharron from Wake told some jokes. Friend from Cary High School Charlotte Lewis told tall tales, as did sister in law Betty Ann and sister Chole. The State Presidents of Corn and Small Grain Growers praised Joyce, her work and her as a friend.

The two could not have been closer. Joyce and niece Angie Lathan Flake, the youngest daughter of beloved brother L.C The bond was unique and lasting. More like two friends, they bonded over family , sports and how they despised Republicans.

Dallas was a member Broughton High’s award winning Carolina Spirt becoming a two time National Champion along with his best friend Bill. Joyce made lifelong friends with the other moms. The made the road trips laughed, deank coffee, cheered the squad and just enjoyed their company together. At her retirement party, she said she had been a little because she was not sure if it was Dallas graduating or her. But the friendships with Mary Jo Bowen and Party Alford endured long after the lights dimmed and the championship medals faded

July 3rd 2026 saw a huge crowd attend moms 89th Birthday party

A Birthday Reunion for Joyce Woodhouse, and for the ages!! Early in 1979, while checking his mail box at the Crabtree Valley Post Office, Wilson Woodhouse noticed a confused mother and young daugter wandering around. Dad stopped to offer assistance to the lost two. Those two were, Gina (Mother) and Angela (Daughter) Gómez. They were looking for the office of temporary work agency, the mother was scheduled to be at the next morning. Gina needed work. She and all her family had been forced to evacuate and flee their home in Nicaragua, due to the civil conflict and unrest as the ruthless communist Sandinista’s began what would become a successful overthrow of the existing government. The Gomez’s were hard working and successful people. Oscar And Gina had built a life through hard work and sacrifice for Oscar Jr, Angela, Roberto and later Romona who would be born in America. Desperate to get their children to safety, while preserving what little they could to start new lives someplace, anyplace else. Parents like any others, faced with impossible choices. Choices no parents deserve. stay and lose everything and risk their lives. Or Escape the country with nothing more than the clothes on their backs. attempting to start new lives, someway, somehow, some place. The full gripping details shall wait for another time. But Wilson brought them home to Joyce who cooked and fed them. Joyce and Wilson helped them get settled. Both contacted every political connected they ever had to land them asylum. Oscar Jr. came first. Then Angela, Roberto. They all lived with Wilson, Joyce, Joy, Brad and yes, with a young me. Sometimes the stays were short. Others, for years The Woodhouse’s became temporary guardians for Oscar Jr, Angela and Roberto Gomez. They thrived in school. Went to church, the fair, family functions. They became family. Back in Nicaragua, the parents smuggled out what little they could have their own assets. Throughout the 1980’s Gina and Joyce traded letters, the only way to communicate. It was a magical time. Uncharted, unscripted, chaotic, loud and wonderful. Teenage children from the extended Gomez came at times. Other families asked to send their children for shelter and safety. A chance but god directed meeting in a mall parking lot, turned into a an informal refugee pipeline to Raleigh and often NC State the Lord inspired landing spot for many. Several Christmas breaks between semesters a dozen refugees slept cots, sleeping bag, even in a closet inside the loving by modest Woodhouse home on Raleigh’s Hillock Drive. Oscar Jr headed to N.C. State. Angela another university. The infant Romona, always stayed with her mother. We loved them all. Still do. The entire group eventually settled across the U. S. in new town and new states. First, we got them asylum, much later, they became citizens. But Roberto was different. Special. Brilliant. humble. Closest in age to Brad, they bunked together. He attended Broughton High, with Joy. Just like all the Woodhouse children he is a proud graduate (1982) of Broughton High. Today Roberto is married to Anairda Zemog, with two Adult Children. He is one of the most successful flower growers and distributors in the western U.S. out of the Southern California home. Whatever our family did for theirs, we got back 10 fold. Whatever we gave, we got back in spades. We saw from our parents what love, sacrifice and caring’s for others is all about, and how it will make you better. We last saw Roberto in August of 2003, when he attended and provided the flowers for my brothers California based wedding. My call to Roberto, came Tuesday June 30th. Just a request. to surprise my mom, at her little birthday party (likely her last) on Friday, with a zoom call. He said no. 45 years after he left Raleigh for Florida University, and 35 years after he last visited, less than 48 Hours after my call, and on a holiday weekend no less, Roberto and his wife were in flight, traveling 2500 miles to surprise my mom, and a room full of us. It was the surprise party of a lifetime. Speaking for my family, I have never been more grateful, humbled. Honored. 4 Decades ago a chance meeting at a mall, changed all of our lives for the better. An impromptu call this week, did it again. 10 Fold. Thank You God. And Roberto

Wedding Night

Special times

Joyce and Wilson were dressed to impress when they left the Mansion after their December 28, 1963 Wedding and Reception

No one gave NC State a chance at beating top-ranked Houston for college basketball's national championship on this date in 1983. Columnist Dave Kindred summed up the pregame attitude best when he wrote that "Trees will tap dance, elephants will ride in the Indianapolis 500, and (rotund celebrity) Orson Wells will skip breakfast, lunch, and dinner before State finds a way to beat Houston." Following NC State’s historic upset, writer Dave Kindred immediately owned his legendary miscalculation by opening his post-game column in The Washington Post with a playful retraction of his own words. In his piece titled "Say Goodnight, Phi Slama Pajamas," he wrote:"Trees tap danced, an elephant will drive for A.J. Foyt at Indy and Orson Welles skipped breakfast, lunch and dinner. The wise-acre trembling at this typewriter guaranteed those things would happen before North Carolina Dreaming State ever beat Houston..."He leaned entirely into the joke, effectively telling the world that the impossible had just happened. This spoke to Joyce, who typed up the quote and kept it in her classroom on a notecard. She saved it for years, as a way of saying the so called impossible can happen. Kindred’s pregame column was so widely read that other journalists used it as a springboard for their own post-game coverage. Most famously, sports editor Joe Tiede of Raleigh's News & Observer crafted one of the most celebrated leads in sports journalism history the next morning, simply writing:"Elephants, start your engines."How Jim Valvano Handled ItRather than being bitter, NC State head coach Jim Valvano loved the quote and the narrative. For decades after the game, Valvano and Kindred remained good friends and frequently joked about the prediction. Valvano regularly highlighted the "tap-dancing trees" line in his public speaking engagements to illustrate how hope, belief, and persistence can overcome any expert's math.

While dating Wilson in the late 1950's Joyce first met Eunice Woodhouse. Eunice, a character in her own right, introduced herself by lifting up her skirt and showing Joyce where she "accidently" shot herself with a shotgun