Saying goodbye to a Local hero… Former Stokes County Sheriff Mike Joyce laid to rest

(By Leslie Bray, The Stokes News) - A line of patiently waiting people stretched out of the Pine Hall Elementary School Gym and into the breezy afternoon. Approximately 1,300 came out on Dec. 4, to pay their last respects to the man who had served Stokes County as sheriff for 20 years, Mike Joyce.

Joyce, the longest reigning sheriff in Stokes County history, died shortly before 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 1, at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center. He had fought a battle with leukemia since his diagnosis in Jan. 2010.

“Heaven’s gain, our loss,” stated current Sheriff Mike Marshall.