Voracious reader and curious soul was the quintessential lifelong learner
After a long and challenging chapter with frontotemporal dementia, Joyce passed peacefully from this earthly plane on July 31, 2023. If there’s a choir in heaven, Joyce is singing — show tunes, spirituals, jazz standards, classical, folk songs, Jewish melodies…maybe even the Beatles. Joyce loved music and sang in a choir everywhere she lived. She encouraged all signs of musicality in her children and grandchildren. Joyce was born April 28, 1935, in New York City to Fannie and Samuel Yacker. Although she spent most of her life in New Jersey, Joyce treasured all that New York had to offer. She especially enjoyed Broadway and loved celebrating special occasions with a good show. From an early age, Joyce was a voracious reader and a curious soul. Determined to get a college education even though her family was going through hard times, Joyce used her charm and determination to convince her favorite aunt to go to bat for her. Joyce got her wish, attended Bates College and then graduated from Douglass College. In 1957, Joyce married Sandy Freundlich. Sandy made Joyce laugh, was able to beat her in scrabble and encouraged her to learn how to live within a household budget. Joyce and Sandy made their home in Plainfield, N.J. In 1960 and 1961, Wendy and Kenny came along, both with carrot-topped hair. When Joyce became known primarily as Sandy’s wife and the mother of the two cute little redheads, she knew it was time to go back to work. When her children were in their teens, Joyce went back to school to get her master’s in education. Just to prove to herself that she was as smart as her younger brother, the lawyer, she continued until she completed her doctorate. Joyce was the quintessential lifelong learner, taking classes in writing, Hebrew, Japanese, art, quilt making and current events, through her eighties. At 75, Joyce decided to have a Bat Mitzvah. She studied hard and joyfully celebrated her delayed rite of passage with her extended family and friends. Joyce had a full career in education. She taught English to foreign students in the public schools, later became a professor at Rutgers and, finally, started her own company teaching English to foreign businesspeople. Her students called her “Dr. Joyce” since they could not pronounce her last name, and she loved it! Joyce raised her family with love and silliness. She had a…
Voracious reader and curious soul was the quintessential lifelong learner
After a long and challenging chapter with frontotemporal dementia, Joyce passed peacefully from this earthly plane on July 31, 2023. If there’s a choir in heaven, Joyce is singing — show tunes, spirituals, jazz standards, classical, folk songs, Jewish melodies…maybe even the Beatles. Joyce loved music and sang in a choir everywhere she lived. She encouraged all signs of musicality in her children and grandchildren. Joyce was born April 28, 1935, in New York City to Fannie and Samuel Yacker. Although she spent most of her life in New Jersey, Joyce treasured all that New York had to offer. She especially enjoyed Broadway and loved celebrating special occasions with a good show. From an early age, Joyce was a voracious reader and a curious soul. Determined to get a college education even though her family was going through hard times, Joyce used her charm and determination to convince her favorite aunt to go to bat for her. Joyce got her wish, attended Bates College and then graduated from Douglass College. In 1957, Joyce married Sandy Freundlich. Sandy made Joyce laugh, was able to beat her in scrabble and encouraged her to learn how to live within a household budget. Joyce and Sandy made their home in Plainfield, N.J. In 1960 and 1961, Wendy and Kenny came along, both with carrot-topped hair. When Joyce became known primarily as Sandy’s wife and the mother of the two cute little redheads, she knew it was time to go back to work. When her children were in their teens, Joyce went back to school to get her master’s in education. Just to prove to herself that she was as smart as her younger brother, the lawyer, she continued until she completed her doctorate. Joyce was the quintessential lifelong learner, taking classes in writing, Hebrew, Japanese, art, quilt making and current events, through her eighties. At 75, Joyce decided to have a Bat Mitzvah. She studied hard and joyfully celebrated her delayed rite of passage with her extended family and friends. Joyce had a full career in education. She taught English to foreign students in the public schools, later became a professor at Rutgers and, finally, started her own company teaching English to foreign businesspeople. Her students called her “Dr. Joyce” since they could not pronounce her last name, and she loved it! Joyce raised her family with love and silliness. She had a…