Joycelyn E. McLure

Joycelyn Evadne McLure, affectionately known to some as “Joyce” was born to Johnanna McClure and James Coppin on May 22, 1940, in Georgetown, Guyana. From a young age, she enjoyed cooking, baking, sewing, caring for others, and engaging in intellectual pursuits. As a child she began learning to sew, and over the course of her life, she designed and tailored fashions for family and friends for all of lifes events.

Beyond her roles as a daughter, sister, mother, cousin, and friend, Joycelyn was best known as a dedicated registered nurse. She began her nursing career in Guyana, traveling throughout the country to care for patients. She later was recruited by Albany Medical Center and journeyed to the United States in pursuit of more opportunities for herself and her two girls, Grace and Nichola. She settled in Albany, New York, where she began working at Albany Medical Center in 1969. In 1960 she started her nursing career in Guyana and retired from Albany Medical Center in 2003. In her 43 year career she specialized in midwifery, gynecologic oncology and offered compassionate care to countless patients. She also invented a device to support patients with lymph issues which reduced skin irritations for patients with longer-term hospital stays. In her retirement she was a volunteer with AARP, the American Cancer Society and the Israel AME soup kitchen and food pantry.

Joycelyn is immediately predeceased by her parents, Johanna McClure and James Coppin, and her son-in-law, Russell Holt. She is survived by her sisters, Patricia Alleyne and Everette Walters (Patrick) and; her two daughters, Roxanne Grace Holt and Nichola Dutre (Jeffrey); five grandchildren, Alicia Holt, Ashley Holt-Austin (Emmanuel), Christine Holt, Michael Dutre (Andrea), and Gregory Dutre (Duncan); two great-grandchildren, Emmanuel Austin, Jr. and Nina Grace Austin; and three nephews Dexter Gill, Patrick Christopher Walters and Paul Walters along with a host of great-nieces and nephews, cousins, god-children and other dear family members.

Joycelyn’s life will be remembered by her dedication, delicious Guyanese cooking and baking, her fierce independence, and the care that she extended to those around her.

Her family would like to thank everyone for their kind words and expressions of heartfelt sympathy during this time of bereavement.

Calling hours will be held on Wednesday, May 13, 2026 from 10 a.m. 11:30 a.m., with a celebration of life taking place directly after at New Comer Cremations & Funerals, 343 New Karner Rd, Colonie, NY 12205. Interment to follow at Memory Gardens, Colonie. A repast will take place directly following internment.