Joyce Martha Hensen

Joyce Hensen (nee Kattwinkel), age 90, of Wayne passed away peacefully on Thursday, November 7, 2019 while receiving the loving care of her family.

Joyce was born and raised in Clifton and was the younger of two children to Otto and Martha Kattwinkel. As a child, Joyce loved spending summers swimming at her family's lakehouse at Lindy's Lake, Bloomingdale. In school, Joyce was a talented scholar, dancer and cheerleader. She also enjoyed playing the accordian.  While at Clifton High, she met her future husband, John Hensen, and the two were inseparable from that point on. Joyce graduated from Clifton High School in 1947, and went on to attend Katherine Gibbs Secretarial School. She then secured a secretarial position at Dumont, the company that produced the first televisions in the US. Joyce and John were married December 29, 1951, after John's honorable discharge from the army. They honeymooned at Lake Placid.

Joyce then dedicated herself to being a wife, homemaker, and raising her 3 children, in Packanack Lake, Wayne, NJ.  Joyce later went back to the workplace, securing a secretarial position at Hammond Organ, and later as Administrative Assistant at the Recreation Center at  William Paterson University, from which she eventually retired.  Never one to settle, Joyce then became a crossing guard for the Wayne Township schools, which she greatly enjoyed.  

Through the years, Joyce was involved in many groups and activities in the Packanack Lake community. She enjoyed reading,  playing bridge, volleyball, tennis and swimming. Joyce was immersed in the Packanack Players  theater group, and later, the Wayne Senior Follies, where  she was a lead choreographer and dancer, as well as costume designer and seamstress.  Joyce and her family spent their summers at the Jersey shore, sharing beach houses with dear friends from Packanack.  Joyce and John enjoyed traveling to various destinations both within the U.S. and abroad. Joyce was a pet lover, and the family always had a dog, and often a cat as well.    She was an independent woman, with an outgoing disposition and an easy smile.   Joyce and her husband John remained “High School Sweethearts” forever.  Throughout the years, their children would often enter a room to find them giggling together like a young couple in love. They both loved to throw a good party, and friends were often gathered at the Hensen house.   Joyce and John cherished fifty-four years of loving and loyal marriage together until John’s passing in 2005.   Joyce had many interests and talents, however her greatest passion was for her family.  Nothing in the world meant more to Joyce than spending time with, and providing for her family.  Joyce was a very special person who touched the lives of many people.  She will be extremely missed by everyone that knew her.

Joyce is survived by her daughter Joy Schmitz and her husband Fred of Sparta, two sons; Dyke Hensen and his wife Suzanne of Kinnelon, and Reid Hensen and his wife Laurie of Wayne, four grandchildren; Corinne Travis of Westborough, MA, Lindsay Schmitz of Sparta, Reid Hensen of West Hollywood, CA, Stevie Hensen of Wayne, two great grandchildren; Kylan Travis and Jude Travis.  She was predeceased by her brother Frank Kattwinkel, and her husband John Hensen (2005).