Joicie Appell passed away on Tuesday, January 25, 2022 at her home in rural Calhoun, Missouri. Joicie's wishes were to be cremated. There are no services planned at this time. A Celebration of Life will follow post-pandemic. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Clinton Animal Shelter and they can be left in care of the funeral home. Fond memories and condolences can be left online at www.vansant-millsfuneralhome.com .

She was born March 28, 1928, in Kansas City, Missouri. Preceding her in passing were her husband of 71 years, Allan Carlisle Appell of Sedalia, Missouri, a son Richard Mark Appell who passed in infancy and a daughter Virginia Anne Appell who passed at age 2; Joicie's mother, Harriet Buchanan Rule and brother W.A. Rule III (Bill) of Kansas City; Joicie's father William Ashley Rule, Jr. and stepmother Helen Greeley Rule of Mountainburg, Arkansas.

Surviving are three daughters: Cheryl (Ralph Stewart) Appell of Boulder, Colorado, Pam (Roger) High of Lee's Summit, Missouri, and Tricia (Patrice) Marques of Cascais, Portugal; grandson Jason Lee High of Lee's Summit, Missouri; granddaughters Elisabeth Stewart (Matt) Hill of Boulder and Meredith and Allison Stewart of Portland, Oregon and Lakewood, Colorado, respectively, and great granddaughters Emerson Ann and Eleanor Joy Hill of Boulder.

Though studying to teach English and English Literature, Joicie was pointed toward stage performing by two teachers at Westport High School in Kansas City, Missouri, from which she graduated in 1945 as Class President, valedictorian, a beauty queen and "the girl who has done most" for the school.

She soon began stage acting at The Barn Theater in Prairie Village, Kansas, and continued with appearances in 20 community theater plays and more than 70 professional productions throughout the Midwest and Southwest and in New York City, where she appeared in two Off Broadway productions, including a star turn in a musical.

In Kansas City, she was seen on stage at Missouri (now KC) Repertory Theatre where she worked under direction both of Doctor Patricia McIlrath and Alexis Minotis, founder of the Greek National Theatre. She twice toured Missouri with the university's Vanguard Repertory Theatre. She performed in numerous productions at the old Tiffany's Attic and Waldo Astoria Dinner Theatres, at the Jewish Community Center, Coach House Players, the old Circle Theater at Union Station, the Unicorn Theatre, The Living Room, the Kansas City Actors' Theatre, the KC Fringe Festival and at the New Theatre Restaurant in Overland Park, Kansas. She twice received critics' Kansas City's Best of Theatre awards plus several individual playhouse acting awards.

She appeared in an Omaha production of Nothing But the Truth directed by the renowned Joshua Logan and was Guest Artist fort the 50 ^th Anniversary of Okoboji Summer Theatre in Spirit Lake, Iowa, in the 2-character play The Gin Game. She appeared on stage opposite such stars as Bernie Kopell, Al Lewis, Dick Wilson, Tony Dow and Jerry Mathers, Ray Walston, Marion Ross, Richard Kline, Bill McCutcheon, Bruce Gordon, Marvin Kaplan and Albert Decker; played opposite Don Knotts in Harvey and opposite Lyle Talbot in three productions of On Golden Pond.

She started in radio commercials at age 16, wrote and acted in two years of radio drama over KOZY FM, then later wrote and narrated for 11 ½ years a weekly radio program aired over WHB, consistently winning the time slot for the station. She mare more than 100 radio and television commercials, and when in New York, had roles on the soap opera Guiding Light. She appeared as Mrs. Claus opposite the late Ernest Borgnine in a Christmas video and in numerous print ads and industrial films.

In feature films, she was in All Roads Lead Home with Peter Coyote and the late Peter Boyle and had cameo roles in Ang Lee's Ride With The Devil and Woody Allen's Radio Days. Locally, 2016's multi-award winning feature film The Tree was written for her by Stephen and Mary Pruitt and filmed in several Kansas cities and in Calhoun and Clinton, Missouri.

As stage director, Joicie trouped several productions of NYC's Theater Guild's Plays for Living. In 1996 she founded Clinton's Heartland Community Theatre and for over 25 years directed some 50 classic comedies, dramas and mysteries for the group. For them she wrote and directed several full-length plays plus scripts for more than 20 Readers Theatre productions. One script, War Correspondence, subsequently was acquired by The Barn Senior Players of Johnson County, Kansas, and with video and music trio added, toured local libraries.

Joicie took great pleasure in being part of Clinton's Writers Group and Readers Roundtable.

For more than 25 years in their marriage, she worked with husband Allan on Allan Publications, a home book publishing business which handled several titles including Longan's Parliamentary Rules, a Bible story book and a book of poetry. Joicie was a Blue Bird and Camp Fire Girls leader for 20 years and a trainer of leaders. She served during WWII in the Kansas City Canteen; at age 16, too young to be a hostess, she made Sunday breakfasts for the servicemen and women and played piano when time permitted. Raised in the Episcopal Church, she turned to Christian Science as a teenager and over time served as First Reader in Third and Second Churches in Kansas City and in First Church, Sedalia. For more than 30 years in Kansas City she served as Secretary-Treasurer for The Association of Pupils of John M. Tutt, CSB.

As with Allan, she enjoyed supporting local schools, police, sheriff and fire departments, the Clinton Animal Shelter, Samaritan Center, veterans' groups and the Clinton Democrat newspaper; more recently, the new Gallery 3 on the Clinton Square.

Arrangements have been entrusted to Vansant-Mills Funeral Home in Clinton, Missouri.