Obituary: Joyce Freundlich, 1935-2023 

• Courtesy
• Joyce Freundlich

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 great sense of fun…always ready for a game of Charades, Pictionary, Bananagrams, Boggle, Fictionary or the “forehead game.” She brought laughter and festivity to every family gathering. When telling a story (which she always loved), if faced with the choice of sticking closely to the facts or entertaining her listeners, there was never a question of which option she’d choose.

And the food she cooked! Pot roast, paella, soups, cakes, pies…you name it, and she made it. Family gatherings always included extra friends, foreign students from around the world, her childrens’ friends and anyone who needed a good meal and a good time. Joyce loved to entertain and always made people feel welcome.

When Sandy tragically passed away in 1988, Joyce reconnected with her former colleague, Norman Schnayer. They spent the next 35 years together, retiring to the Berkshires, where they made new friends, became very involved in their temple and traveled about. When grandchildren came into their lives, they were thrilled! First Maddi, followed by Adam, Josh and Anna. Their home in the Berkshires became a puppet theater, a gymnastics academy, a children’s library and a delicious kitchen. Walks down the road to visit the farm animals were an essential part of every grandchild’s visit. Joyce shared laughter, melodies and plenty of chocolate with her grandchildren.

Joyce made her end of life wishes very clear…movies and ice cream. Her family confirms that her freezer was stocked with Ben and Jerry’s until the end. The invention of streaming made it very easy to accommodate as many movies as she could watch day and night from her cozy recliner. Joyce stayed uber connected to her children, grandchildren and family friends through her magnificent use of her iPhone. She reached out to her regulars many times a day, checking in to make sure everyone was happy enough, eating well and staying active and engaged in their work, studies and social lives.

Joyce was predeceased by her parents, Fanny and Samuel Yacker; both husbands, Sandy Freundlich and Norman Schnayer; and her brother Stanley Yacker. She is survived by her daughter, Wendy Freundlich, of Middlesex, her son, Kenny Freundlich and daughter-in-law, Marjorie Freundlich, of Needham, Ma.; her grandchildren, Madeleine and Adam Freundlich and Josh and Anna Farber; her cousin Carole Bromberg; her sister-in-law, Pauline Aronoff; her closest friends, Silka and Donny Wolk; and her best travel buddy, Laura Shumlin.

Joyce’s family extends their heartfelt gratitude to Francis and Blandine Manga of Loving Home Care, Central Vermont Home Health and Hospice; Michelle (from New Leaf Hair Salon); Lauren Hooker (her Zoom sing-a-long buddy); and all of the loving and caring neighbors of Freedom Drive. A celebration of Joyce’s life with family and friends will take place later this summer.