Everything about Joyce Dahmer— Her Early Life, Family Background and Mental Health Struggles

Joyce Dahmer was a mother who struggled with mental illness while raising her sons, David Dahmer and Jeffrey Dahmer. After learning of her son’s unlawful actions, she was overcome with remorse and never got over it.

Due to her persistent despair, Joyce was hospitalized several times in mental facilities. Aside from that, her alcoholism landed her in the ICU as well. Joyce’s arrest of Jeffrey led to her being diagnosed with persistent schizophrenia. She passed away in 1994 after spending her last years at a nursing facility.

Criminologists talked to Joyce Dahmer to learn more about her son, Jeffrey Dahmer, who was found guilty of killing 17 boys and men between 1978 and 1991 and was found to be a cannibal.

Who exactly is Joyce Dahmer?

Born on February 7, 1936, in Columbus, Wisconsin, Joyce Dahmer was also known as Joyce Flint.

She obtained a divorce after 19 years of marriage because she was unable to give her kids enough of her attention.

Her mental and emotional fragility contributed to the dire circumstances in which she abandoned her kid. Joyce died in the year 2000 after a battle with breast cancer.

They had a baby boy, Jeffrey Dahmer, together. She did not have a mental breakdown because of her activities with her son, which led her to assume he was a prominent serial murderer.

Joyce was frightened after learning about her son’s criminal behaviour. Soon, she reached her breaking point and attempted suicide. Joyce let out a sigh, then went past the newly opened doors.

She also wrote a suicide note in which Joyce Dahmer’s statement explained her mental anguish. Unfortunately, it foiled her suicide attempt, and she lived to tell the tale. This article details the tragic events that led to Joyce Dahmer Morreu De Quand’s death.

Floyd and Lillian, her parents, could trace their roots to Norway and Germany. Donald, her younger brother, died in 2011.

Joyce Dahmer felt stuck in her tumultuous marriage to Lionel Dahmer. Following her divorce from David’s father in 1978, Joyce took David to Fresno, California, where she settled down and got a job managing a retirement community. Since joining the Central Valley AIDs Team as a case manager in 1991, her colleagues have praised her “ability for having a tremendous degree of empathy for persons with HIV.” 

As a result of her compassion, in 1996, she established “The Living Room,” a facility for people living with HIV. However, following her son’s death in 1994, his deeds haunted her, and she attempted suicide many times.

At the time of her son’s death in 1994, Joyce called Jeffrey Dahmer at least once a week.

She shared his belief that his impulses originated from somewhere other than himself and that he sought to improve himself.

Joyce and Lionel Dahmer separated in 1978

Joyce felt dizzy, sick to her stomach, and unable to move her muscles. Her muscular pain had no clear cause, so doctors prescribed phenobarbital and morphine. Lionel, in his book, speculates that Joyce’s medicine may have exacerbated Jeffrey’s mental condition.

According to the National Institutes of Health, postpartum psychosis includes symptoms including “severe disorientation, loss of contact with reality, paranoia, delusions, disordered mental process, and hallucinations,” which Joyce experienced during her second pregnancy with David.

The Crime Museum claims that when Jeffrey completed high school in the summer of 1978, Joyce and Lionel separated. According to HITC’s investigation and Joyce Dahmer’s book, Jeffrey, 18, remained at home with his father and stepmother, Shari. At the same time, his biological mother, Joyce, took care of their son David, then 12 years old. Jeffrey turned to drink as a coping mechanism when his parents divorced, and he became estranged from his younger brother.

Failure of Joyce Dahmer’s Suicide Attempt

Whatever the reasons for Jeffrey Dahmer’s criminal behaviour, his mother, Joyce Dahmer, felt so guilty that she attempted suicide over it.

Since then, life has been very lonely. she says “I adore my boys, Jeff and David,” in her suicide note.

Somehow, she managed to pull through after attempting suicide.

How did Joyce Dahmer die? 

Joyce Dahmer, who was 64 years old when she died on November 27, 2000, succumbed to breast cancer. She moved to Fresno, California, in the 1980s and worked as a senior home manager, according to her obituary published in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. In 1991, she started working with the Central Valley AIDS Team as a case manager.

One Fresno HIV advocate, Julio Mastro, told the Los Angeles Times that Joyce was energetic and she was empathetic. She transformed her misfortune into having a tremendous degree of empathy for others with HIV.

Final Verdict

Joyce Dahmer, the mother of serial murderer Jeffrey Dahmer, worked as a chemist in the United States. Joyce lost her courageous battle with breast cancer and died in 2000 at the age of 64.

FAQ’s

Is Joyce Dahmer still alive?

No, unfortunately, she has passed away.

What became of Jeffrey Dahmer’s apartment?

The Assessor’s Office confirmed that Ogden Homes is the legal owner of the empty land.

In what way did Joyce Dahmer/Joyce Flint meet her untimely end?

Breast cancer ultimately claimed Joyce Flint’s life in November 2000 after she made at least one suicide attempt. Jeffrey, her second son, changed his last name and has been reclusive.

If a youngster grows up to be a serial killer like Jeffrey Dahmer, what went wrong in their early years?

Before undergoing surgery to repair a double hernia, he was an active and happy toddler, but after that, he grew progressively reclusive. His behaviour deteriorated once his family moved and his younger sibling was born. Asocial, tense, and socially isolated, he was a difficult young adult to be around.