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Obituary provided by Turner Funeral Home of Hinton, OK.
Marilyn Joyce Mabry Carney was born on May 27th, 1944 to Ernest and Mary Belle Mabry. She was their only “little chicken”. She was born in Hinton, Oklahoma where things did not go as planned. Mary Belle needed a C-section but the doctor wouldn’t lift the scalpel until the money was in hand. Ernest left the hospital to head to the bank in Hydro to try to get a loan. Halfway there he met Bank of Hydro President Bill Glass on Old 66. Bill stopped Ernest and said “Go back Ernest! The money’s already there!” Though there was some trouble with the C-section, Joyce came into the world “a scrawny screaming thing”. When Ernest went to the bank later on to make arrangements to pay off the loan, he was handed some papers with a list of names and what they had contributed to Joyce’s birth and Ernest never had to pay them back. She was the child that Hydro bought.
She grew up with her parents and grandparents and many loving cousins in Hydro. She attended Hydro Public Schools the entirety of her schooling. She was a member of the first Hydro Public School Cheerleading squad.
Joyce attended the First Christian Church of Hydro and was Sunday School Superintendent for many years. She also led the youth group. Her life-long goal was leading people to the lord.
She then went on to Southwestern Oklahoma State University where, in her own words, she was a perpetual student and studied education, art and nursing. Though she attended college for 13 years, she never took a journalism class, but went on to make a career of it.
She started her Newspaper career at the Hydro Review setting hot led type. She also was a waitress at the Porter House in Weatherford.
While working at the Review, she also wrote an article for the Farmwife News and Union Equity Magazine called “How Do You Keep ‘Em Down on the Farm”, where she detailed her life as a city girl turned farm wife.
She also worked at the Weatherford Daily News for a time as the society editor and wrote an Article called Around Town with Marilyn.
While she was working at the Weatherford Daily News, she caught back up with an old family friend Rusty Carney. Rusty and Joyce’s mothers, Mary Belle Mabry and Fern Carney were close friends. Rusty and Joyce began dating in late May of 1974 and 3 long months later they were married. They made a home on the Carney family farm, where Joyce helped with the day to day farm life and was even presented the gift of a new hoe by her father-in-law Russ Carney for her birthday. They raised 3 children.
In 1982, Rusty and Joyce started the Country Connection News with a $4,000 loan and used equipment, alongside Brenda Howerton-Wilson, Pat Thiessen and Eric Cloninger. The Country Connection covered all of Northern Caddo County and had news from the area. Joyce lovingly referred to it as “chicken dinner news” as it was news that you would tell around the table. She also called it a “letter from home” and the many people who had moved away but still took the paper agreed.
Joyce wrote a column called Crossroads Comments that detailed the happenings of the local community and her own personal stories. She and Rusty kept the paper going for 43 years. During that time, the printing process evolved from led type, to type set, to digital. Both Joyce and Rusty were eager to learn the latest technology so as to continue to deliver the news in the best possible way. They attended Oklahoma Press Association conferences where they met numerous life-long friends. She was also quoted in the Wall Street Journal as saying “Behind every farmer, is a woman with a hitch-pen”. Hydro’s beloved George Meacham dubbed her “the poor man’s Barbara Walters”.
In addition to her career at the Country Connection, Joyce also volunteered at the Ghost Mound Boys Home as a mentor. She assisted the young men with their education and life skills. She stayed in touch with many of the boys and they called her Momma Joyce or Granny J. She also went on to develop the Child Advocacy Team for Caddo County where she helped dozens of children in need. They too referred to her as Granny J and many continued to stay in touch. Joyce was always willing to help anyone in need. She was a true servant.
In 2023, she was inducted into OPA’s Half Century Club. Although she and Rusty retired from the Newspaper business in March of 2024, her work was not finished. She started the Hydro-Eakly All School Reunion page on Facebook, where she updated alumni on Hydro-Eakly news. She was also instrumental in keeping the All School Alumni Banquet going year after year. She was a founding member of the Hydro Tri-County Historical Society.
Joyce enjoyed traveling and took many trips to Montana, Tennessee, and New Mexico. In addition to journalism she was a talented artist and enjoyed painting with her friends. She loved Hydro, history, genealogy, art, her family and above all her Savior. She was “Hydro’s biggest cheerleader” to the end.
Joyce went to sleep on February 18th, 2025 at the age of 80 and woke up in the arms of Jesus. She is preceded in death by her Father Ernest Mabry and her mother Mary Belle Auxier Mabry, her babies, Hope Hicks and Johnny Hicks, and numerous aunts, uncles and cousins.
She is survived by the love of her life Rusty Carney, her son Steve Carney and wife Ida and their children Dusty Carney and wife Kesha, Lance Carney, Nicole Moon, Dustin McLemore and wife Lindsay, Thomas McLemore and wife Stephanie, Becca Burton and husband David, daughter Amanda Stockton and husband Jeremy and their children Wyatt and Lilly Kate, daughter Carrie Sivo and husband Christopher and 7 great-grandchildren – Micah Carney, Alexia Carney, Tucker Carney, Emma Carney, Elijah McLemore, Jack McLemore and Wyatt McLemore. Joyce was a pseudo mother and grandmother to countless others.
Joyce leaves behind a legacy of love and servant hood. Although our hearts are heavy we know she is in heaven rejoicing with the saints. And though there are tears and sadness now, as she so often said, “This too shall pass”, and we know we will see her again.
Memorial donations may be made to the Hydro Tri-County Historical Society at the Bank of Hydro (PO Box 7, Hydro, OK 73048).
Service: 10:00 AM, Saturday, February 22, 2025 at the First Christian Church, Hydro, OK
Officiating: Pastor Rick Dyson and Reverend Tom Clifton
Burial: Hydro Masonic Cemetery, Hydro, OK
Condolences may be sent to the family at turnerfuneralhomes@gmail.com, turnerfh.net, or you can find us on Facebook (Turner Funeral Homes).
