Joy Harvey was all smiles when she recalled the moment when she received the announcement that she was selected to be the 2024 Crook County Pioneer Queen.
“I was surprised and in shock,” she said.
Joy quickly pointed out that she is not one who likes attention drawn to her.
“It was an honor,” she added.
Her son, Paul Harvey, quietly joined the conversation and beamed with pride at his mother’s Pioneer Queen selection. He indicated that there were still a number of things to do to be ready for the crowning ceremony and annual picnic.
“It was an honor, and Mom is not all about everybody honoring her, so it was a little bit of a struggle. It is exciting to know my grandpa and grandma would be very pleased if they were around,” emphasized Paul.
Joy Harvey’s personal history
Joy Harvey (Houston) was born in January 1933, in Prineville, on the coldest day of the year. Her sister, Gerrie Moore (Houston), shared the details of the day. Although she is nine years younger, the memory was passed down by Joy’s mother.
“It was 35 degrees below and the car would not start, so Dad had to borrow a car to get mom to a midwife,” said Moore.
Joy grew up in Prineville and had two sisters, Geraldine and Jeanette. Joy was the oldest of the three, with Jeanette and Geraldine following. She grew up in her early childhood in the days of the depression and attended the old Crook County Elementary School, which was later Crook County High School. She had health issues and remarked that she struggled in school. For a time, she had to board in town while attending high school. At 17, she quit high school and stayed with her parents to cook meals and clean while they both worked.
She was married to John Harvey in 1952. He was a U.S. Navy sailor, so the family moved a great deal for the first 22 years of their marriage. They had two sons, Mike and Paul. Their two daughters both passed away in their first hours of birth.
The family lived in Washington, Hawaii, Chicago, Illinois, Rhode Island and San Diego, California before returning to their roots in Prineville in 1971.
Joy’s son, Paul, was born in 1959, and he now has two children and two grandchildren. His older brother, Mike Harvey, was born in 1956 and has five children and five grandchildren.
Houston family history
Joy’s Houston family roots date back to 1875, when the Charlie Houston family immigrated from Highlands, North Carolina, to Oregon, where they settled and homesteaded in the Bear Creek area. They had to brave the trail to the West in a covered wagon.
Her father, Waldo Houston, worked in Sisters for a time as a young man after he married her mom and then moved the family back to Prineville. He owned the first MAC log truck in Prineville and worked for Crook County at Bear Creek and Roberts. He was the youngest of his family, with 11 siblings. Two of the boys died at 17 and 18 years old.
“They were out in the desert herding sheep, and they got sick and passed away,” indicated Joy.
Waldo’s father was Charlie Houston. His mother was Bessie Houston. His older sibling, Frank, later worked for the United States Post Office, driving a stagecoach that made the trek from Shaniko to The Dalles during the heyday of the early 1900s. Another sibling, Sumner, earned a silver tab saddle that now resides at the Bowman Museum. The majority of the Houston family came from the Bear Creek area, where they originally homesteaded.
According to Crook County historian, Steve Lent, many of the Houston family settled in the Bear Creek Valley in the late 1800s.
“All of the Houston boys came here and then their father and mother came later,” indicated Lent.
John Thomas Houston (Tom) was a brother to Waldo Houston’s dad, Charlie. He arrived in Prineville from Highlands, North Carolina, in 1886, as well as his brother, Floyd, in 1882.
Joy was preceded by two other Pioneer Queens in her family: Ardys Close and Lenora Powell. Both of them were from the Houston family.
Joy and her family invite the community to join in the festivities at the 2024 Crook County Pioneer Queen Picnic on Sunday, Aug. 4 at 12:30 p.m., at Pioneer Park.
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