Whatever Happened to Joyce Larmore

Joyce Layman was born on June 14, 1952, flag day to be exact. One of her first life disappointments was finding out that the abundance of flags flying weren’t for her birthday. But her journey has, more often than not, been one of joy gratitude, and adventure.

She was the last in a long line of Layman daughters, six to be precise. She grew up in New London and went from kindergarten to graduation in 1970. In high school, she was very active. She was a cheerleader and president of the art club.

Her years in high school coincided with the beginning of Ron Coberley’s tenure as band director that would last 40 years. It was a time that almost everyone was in band and that included Joyce.

She says of those years, “Some of my greatest memories of high school included band. New London’s band was a precision marching band and it was so good! We performed for Friday night football games. The half-time performance included cheerleaders and football players, evidence of small school pride.”

Enter Tom Larmore. As is often the case, love stories have modest beginnings. Joyce had to go to the Iowa State Fair for a contest. Tom was living in Knoxville. Could he give Joyce a ride home? And the rest, as they say, is history.

Now Tom needs a little explaining. He had a well-deserved reputation as the hometown bad boy. He was a thug with a reputation for causing trouble and fighting. His notoriety was widespread. Joyce tells that after they started dating, they were at a restaurant a very long way from New London. Two Iowa Highway Patrolmen walked in and greeted him by name.

His final stand was a big fight that ended at the power plant in New London. Some guys in his gang (not a street gang, more like a gravel road gang) had raided a party several towns away and stolen some beer. They took off and were pursued all the way back to New London. The guys went to the house where Tom was playing cards. They beat on the door asking for help. When he stepped outside, he was greeted by the sound of car doors closing amid shouts of “It’s Ogre (his nick name)!”

The fighting escalated and the New London guys were greatly outnumbered. Tom was beaten, kicked, hit with boards and believed he was going to die. For the first time, he was afraid and feared hell. That was the turning point.

He started going to Harmony Bible Church and on Jan. 21, 1969 he trusted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. As he drove home that day, tears just kept falling because he felt clean and knew he was forgiven. When a cop car passed him with the siren blaring, for once he didn’t feel guilty or that they were going to pull him over. That day was the beginning of God’s work in his life.

Joyce’s faith journey took a much different path. She was a regular church goer and believed she was a good person, certainly not a sinner. She shared, “I attended Harmony with Tom a few times, and we always ended up afterward fighting on the way home.” But God knew what He was doing

The Bible came alive and for the first time, she sat and listened as the word of God was taught verse by verse. The day she came to know Christ as her Savior she finally understood that when Jesus died for her it was instead of her. The teacher was teaching from Ephesians 3:14-19. When he was emphasizing the width, length, depth and height of Christ’s love, he said, “Even if you were the only person on earth, Christ still would have died for you because of His love.” She realized that if she was the only person on earth, Christ would have had to die for her because she was a sinner. She turned to the Lord for forgiveness and trusted Him to be her Lord and Savior.

On Oct. 9, 1971, Joyce and Tom were married. It was the beginning of a life devoted to God that would take Joyce around the world. But first she had a lot to do and places to be.

Their life together was focused on walking with the Lord and growing in their faith. There was an event called Expo ‘72 and several New London kids went down to Dallas to attend. They came home so excited. They didn’t want that enthusiasm to diminish.

After much prayer, they started a coffee house ministry on weekends for teens and adults. Attorney Don Bell donated the space above the bank for our ministry which became “The Upper Room.” The phone company donated big wooden reels for tables, farmers donated popcorn, and they all a grew together as they walked with the Lord. Bible studies and live bands drew many teenagers. This was the beginning of various ministries for the Larmores.

On their fourth anniversary, they added to their family. Son Nathan was born and later daughter Rachel completed their family in June of 1979. Joyce, to this day, is thankful for the parental examples they had at Harmony.

God continued His work in their lives. They had home Bible studies, and Tom preached at various little churches when there was a need. They ended up as owners of the Christian Family Book Shop in Fort Madison.

It was at this time that it became abundantly clear that Tom was called to be in ministry full time. They left Iowa in August of 1977 to move to New Jersey so Tom could attend Philadelphia College of Bible. He became an associate pastor at a local church on the border between Camden and Pennsauken, NJ. They learned to juggle ministry, college, and family life.

Tom graduated from PCB in May of 1982 — almost at the top of his class. A year later, the Lord led them to take a pastoral position at Bayview Baptist Church on the island of Guam. They saw God work there in marvelous ways and blessed that ministry.

After seven years, they returned to the same church in Camden/Pennsauken, only now as the senior pastor. They ministered there for 10 years of transition. It became apparent that they weren’t reflective of the neighborhood that surrounded them, and they made the decision to move across town to a new location.

She relates, “ On our last Sunday at the old location, the police came in and told us to “keep them singing … there is a sniper next door.” She was thankful for God’s protection and the provision of a new church home.

They returned to Guam in 2000. The church grew to 650 attendees. Tom’s messages were on two local radio stations and they had their own cable TV channel with continuous Bible teaching. God opened varied ministries to the Larmores that included trips to the Philippines, Myanmar, and India, They visited these locations many times and Tom always taught the word of God in ways that they could understand, frequently holding week long Bible seminars.

Enter COVID. In March of 2020, their lives greatly changed. The ministries had to shut down and the services were only online. While not having COVID, Tom’s health declined mysteriously, as he was hospitalized for seven weeks in Guam. Eventually, his family was able have him transferred to a large university hospital in Los Angeles. After seven weeks there, Tom passed into His Savior’s presence.

The whole time he was in the hospital, he continued to share his faith. He led two nurses to the Lord in the elevator at the hospital on Guam. He witnessed about Jesus Christ to everyone who came into his room in L.A.. The night before he died, he told Joyce “I wish the last person I was supposed to witness to would come in so I could get out of this place.”

When she left the hospital the day he died, the staff was lined up with tears streaming down their faces. They said, “We all knew him. He shared his faith with all of us.”

The family decided to have his funeral at Harmony Bible Church since it was where Tom’s spiritual journey began.

Joyce relates, “When we left the church afterward, we headed up Jimtown Road and picked up a police escort at the highway. I started laughing — it was the first time the cops were leading him and not chasing him and he was missing it!”

He is buried at Burge Cemetery. His stone was dug out of a creek bed that flows into Lake Geode, where they were baptized. Always Tom’s helpmate, Joyce was absolutely central to the ministries they shared. Now she would continue on her own.

Joyce stayed in Guam for three years as the church transitioned. They knew she was the glue that helped hold it together until they found a new pastor.

When it became clear that she could no longer afford to live on Guam, she prayed for guidance. The Lord was leading her to return to New London where she had friends, two sisters in the area, and her home church — Harmony Bible. And, she can easily go to visit Tom’s earthly resting place even though he isn’t there and is more alive in Heaven than he has ever been.

Joyce was amazed by the resurrection of Burge and at how everything was so beautifully restored after the 2024 tornado. She is also amazed at how many people are buried there that she knew. She feels this is a great reminder to all of us that we are going to die physically someday (Hebrews 9:27). We just need to be ready. Have you been forgiven and have the confidence that you will be in Heaven for all eternity? God is clear in His word that you can KNOW.

Another rare disappointment was missing a trip to Israel on her 50th wedding anniversary. Although Tom was gone, she fulfilled that lifelong dream by visiting in 2023 with her friend the FBI agent Karen. Only Joyce would have an FBI agent friend!

Joyce notes that there have been many changes in the past 48 years while she was gone from New London. Harmony is huge but still has strong Bible teaching and a whole lot of her friends are still there. Lots of the businesses have closed or changed in New London. McPheron Optometry is still there but with different generations of McPherons. Garvey’s is now Short Stop but still has wonderful tenderloins. So many places are gone, but she is cheered by all the new businesses. She loves seeing the town revitalized.

Joyce has had a very unique life. She has brought to it her unique skills. Speaking from experience, she is an amazing cook. Add to that is seamstress and gardener. She exudes the gift of hospitality. But her greatest skill has to be finding joy in every situation she encounters, good or bad.

Since I have been lucky enough to call her friend (since 6th grade), I know she never gives in to any seemingly insurmountable problem. More often than not, she conquers and wins.

Joyce has laid to rest the idea that you can’t go home again. She has seamlessly returned to New London as if she had only been briefly gone. Not only has she returned home, but she is thriving. We are all the richer for having her here.