Activist Joyce Wilson Dies During Quake

Joyce Wilson, a longtime abortion opponent and campaigner for local Republicans, died of a heart attack during the earthquake Monday morning as she rose to gather her children for safety. She was 52.

Wilson, a Cypress resident for the past 18 years, was an early member of the Pro-Life Political Action Committee of Orange County and had campaigned for various candidates.

A mother of seven children aged 12 to 29, she wrote articles for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange newsletter and worked part-time as an electrologist at a Cypress beauty salon.

“I’ll tell you what she was to me; to me she’s the glue of the county. She glued us all together,” said Cathy Sullivan, Wilson’s best friend and political partner. “She empowered us, especially women, through support, prayer, not judging us. You could tell her anything, you knew she would pray for you. She was an empowerer.”

Wilson is survived by her husband of 30 years, Ed; five daughters, two sons and a sister, Gayle Wright of Cypress.

The Rosary will be recited at 7:30 tonight at St. Mary’s by the Sea, 321 10th St., Huntington Beach. The funeral will be at St. Mary’s Thursday at 9 a.m., with burial in Rose Hills Cemetery in Whittier.

Memorial fund donations may be sent to the Pro-Life PAC, P.O. Box 1683, Garden Grove, Calif. 92642.