Glendora Trailblazer, Citrus Alumna Joyce Dill Dies At 86

GLENDORA, CA — Citrus Union High School and Citrus College graduate Joyce Dill died on Feb. 20. She was 86 years old.

Dill came to Citrus Union High School in 1946. She graduated from Citrus Junior College in 1952. Her friends and colleagues said she never left the Citrus community.

Members of the Citrus College Foundation said Dill was among the most involved alumna of either institution. Née Joyce McClendon, Dill attended Glendora Woodrow Wilson Elementary School with classmates who became her lifelong friends.

Sharon Lewis, a fellow graduate of Citrus Union High School class of 1950, said Dill was a natural born leader.

Lewis and Dill both cheered for Citrus Union High School for four years.
“She never stopped cheering for Citrus or helping somebody at Citrus get ahead to get their education,” Lewis said.

Dill was the editor of the Citrus Union High School’s newspaper, the Citrus Cougar Growls. She was a student government representative and participated in several sports.

Dill attended Citrus College after she went Citrus Union High School. After graduating from Citrus College she began working at the bookstore as a clerk.

One day after middle school, Dill led four girls several miles on a trek up Michigan Avenue, now Glendora Avenue, to climb the mountains above Glendora. She made her own path up the mountain.

“Joyce said to me about two months ago, ‘you know what Sharon, we were crazy,’” Lewis said in laughter. “‘There are rattlesnakes up there.’”

On another occasion in elementary School, Dill, along with classmate Jeannie Shores, led her friends in wearing Navy caps and marching down Michigan Avenue in a show of support for American soldiers fighting in World War II.

“She was a very strong person with great leadership abilities,” Lewis said. “She could get a group to do about anything. We all just followed like little sheep.”

Dill used her leadership abilities to gather money for charities, organize Citrus alumni events and help students at Citrus College. “She was a powerhouse for students and faculty,” said Dale Salwak, an English professor who was friends with Dill for decades. “…She was utterly devoted to the campus.”

Throughout her life, Dill founded several charitable organizations operating around the Glendora and Citrus College communities.
She worked for two years with Lewis to raise $100,000 from alumni for Citrus’ 100th anniversary. Dill started the “Taste of Autumn,” dinner fundraiser for the college. She helped organize the Veterans Success Center harmonica fundraiser.

Lewis said after Dill met a friend who was suffering from glaucoma, she helped found a Glendora mutual aid society, Eye Diseases Are Serious.
The group started with social events and evolved into helping members get transportation to appointments as they aged and their eye diseases advanced.

Dill frequently tried to get young people to attend Citrus College. Lewis said Dill would ask people she met at restaurants and shops around town what their goals were and if they had considered attending Citrus.

Lewis said Dill would always follow up with the young person after their first meeting.

“(Dill) really cared passionately about the students and their success,” Salwak said. “I would get called several times a year asking for help with something. And if I didn’t respond immediately, I got a call the next day making sure I did get to her.”

Salwak said after Dill found out he had a new book coming out, she organized a book signing and put up posters and flyers around campus and the bookstore.

“That’s the kind of thing she’d do without being asked,” Salwak said. “She had a servant’s heart."

Lewis said Dill was in and out of hospitals in the past year before being diagnosed with neuropathy. Despite her pain, Dill frequently returned to Citrus to attend alumni events and help the Citrus Foundation.

“She got to where she didn’t want to come because she was embarrassed, she didn’t want anyone to see her in a wheelchair,” Lewis said.

Even in the hospital, Dill tried to get a young man she met to attend Citrus.
“Before she got home she told me, you know, ‘I talked to a kid here and he wants to go to Citrus,’” Lewis said.

Lewis said she “never had a cross word” with Joyce in 76 years of friendship. Lewis spoke with Dill frequently in the month before her death.
“I’d call her, ‘how you doing today?'” Lewis said before paraphrasing Dill. “‘I’m still here,’ she’d say, ‘but I’m not good. I’m still here.’”

“The impressive legacy of care and devotion exhibited by Joyce Dill will long be remembered at Citrus College,” stated Citrus College Superintendent/President Dr. Geraldine M. Perri, and went on to add, “her lifelong dedication to our college and community has been deeply impressed upon our hearts and minds.”

Dill was very proud that she worked for five of the college's seven presidents. She was selected as the Alumni Achievement Award recipient in 1992. In 2010, she was the recipient of the very first Citrus College Shining Star Award for Vision. She was also honored with the Shining Star for Collaboration in 2014. Congresswoman Grace Napolitano honored Dill as an "Unsung Heroine" Woman of the Year in 2016.

In December 2018, Citrus College and the Citrus College Foundation honored Dill at its Annual Winter Reception held on campus. Dill was surrounded by family and friends, college trustees, foundation board members, and many college and high school alumni. The college celebrated her dedication to students, especially "the individual student" she always seemed to find who needed a friend, some encouragement, and a nudge of life-changing support, always in the direction of pursuing educational and career goals at Citrus College. Encouraging students to attend “her” college and mentoring their progress was her passion.
Dill is survived by her husband William Dill, two sons, two granddaughters and two great-grandsons. A public memorial service for Dill will be held at 2 p.m. March 21 at Glenkirk Church in Glendora.

In celebration of her life and legacy, her friends, family and colleagues established the Joyce McClendon Dill Memorial Scholarship for Citrus College students.

Donations can be made online at or by contacting the Citrus College Foundation at foundation@citruscollege.edu or (626) 914-8825.

By James Duffy, Citrus College Clarion with additional information by the Citrus College Foundation