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August 27, 2014
Services
Friends may visit with the family on Saturday, September 6, 2014 from 1:00 to 4:00 PM at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne.
A Memorial Service will be held Saturday at 4:00 PM immediately after the visitation hours.
Joyce Speciale (nee Hill), 83, of Pompton Plains, passed peacefully on Wednesday, August 27, 2014.
Joyce was born and raised in Passaic. She married and moved to Wayne 60 years ago. There Joyce raised four children and was a stay at home mom, something her children have been extremely grateful for, especially when school let out for the summer. That’s when she packed the kids up in the station wagon and headed to Long Beach Island on the Jersey shore. Her kids had fun in the sun, all day, all summer…swimming, crabbing, clamming, fishing and meeting new friends. Then when they reached 15 years old Joyce would drive them down to the beach on the Friday of the Memorial Day weekend. By that Monday evening they had better have a job or they stayed back in Wayne with their Dad for the summer. Needless to say, the kids all had jobs by Monday evening. It was one of the best things Joyce could have done for her children, not to mention a smart way for her to enjoy her summer as well. She taught her kids a work ethic and how to make their own money, and, as a family, they developed summertime friendships with people from all around the country. Some of those summertime friendships became year-long friendships that still endure. For all of her children those were some of the best times of their lives and they are forever grateful to their parents for those summers.
After her children started leaving the nest, one by one, a friend, Eileen Cameron from Packanack Lake, introduced her to quilting. For a while quilting would become one of Joyce’s hobbies. The quilts she made were beautiful. She enjoyed the creativeness and tranquility it gave her, so it was only natural that knitting and needlework became other hobbies that lasted until Joyce’s passing. One of her favorite needlework pieces was of a frog with the saying underneath “Forever Relying On God”. This was one of her mottos and it served her and her family well throughout their lives together.
Joyce had wit…..a dry wit, which endeared her to many, especially to her son-in-law, Tom. Jokes like….. “Mama, Papa and baby tomato were walking down the street when all of a sudden Papa tomato turned around and said to the baby tomato… ketchup!” Every time her family says that joke they can’t help but laugh! Another humorous memory was when Joyce came home one day with a cello she had rented and announced that she was going to take cello lessons because she wanted to learn the beginning of the Led Zeppelin song, Kashmir. One couldn’t help but laugh watching Joyce at 55 years old straddling that cello.
Joyce will be remembered and greatly missed by her children, son-in-law, brother and sister, and other relatives and friends from near and far. They say you cannot pick your family and for the most part that’s true. So it would be remiss to not speak about Tom becoming part of the family. To say just “son-in-law” would not put into perspective the true love and admiration which Joyce and Tom had for each other. Tom was like a son to Joyce. Anytime or anywhere she needed a helping hand Tom was always there. The qualities and mannerisms instilled in Tom by his parents spoke volumes to Joyce. To her Tom was irreplaceable. Tom whole-heartedly enjoyed her dry wit, compassion and sensibility. Both Joyce and Tom enjoyed watching the Yankees and the NY Giants when she came to visit. Watching the way 5’4” Joyce placed her hands on the sides of 6’2” Tom’s shoulders when he bent down to talk with her, one could see that theirs was a special one-of-a-kind relationship within the family.
To Joyce’s children she was not only their mother, but also their friend and confidant. Joyce’s son Joseph, who could not be with us at this time, forwarded this poem he wrote and asked that it be part of his tribute to his mom.
Mom was our rock we would cling to in a dark and stormy sea,
Mom was our sun that warmed us on a stormy winter’s day,
Mom was our moon and the stars which allowed us to dream.
We can all take comfort knowing God has cleared the path for mom’s new journey to begin and how spectacular it will be.
And when it’s time for our new journey to begin, we can rest a sure that our angel has cleared the way for us.
“Joyce’s incredible wit and sense of humor were priceless.”
Godspeed mom! Godspeed Joyce!
Joyce is survived by her four loving children, Jaime, Suzanne, and Joseph Speciale, and Stephanie Shultis and her husband Thomas. She is also survived by her sister Estella Hackel and her husband Gerard, and by her brother Robert D. Polst.
In lieu of flowers, Joyce asked that donations be made to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, NJ Metro Chapter, Aspen Corporate Park 1, 1480 U.S. Highway 9 North, Suite 301, Woodbridge, NJ 07095 (http://www.nationalmssociety.org/Chapters/NJM/Donate), or Christ Episcopal Church, 400 Ramapo Avenue, Pompton Lakes, NJ 07442.
If you would like to send a private condolence directly to the family use this condolence section.
Friends may visit with the family on Saturday, September 6, 2014 from 1:00 to 4:00 PM at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne.
A Memorial Service will be held Saturday at 4:00 PM immediately after the visitation hours.
August 27, 2014
Services
Friends may visit with the family on Saturday, September 6, 2014 from 1:00 to 4:00 PM at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne.
A Memorial Service will be held Saturday at 4:00 PM immediately after the visitation hours.
Joyce Speciale (nee Hill), 83, of Pompton Plains, passed peacefully on Wednesday, August 27, 2014.
Joyce was born and raised in Passaic. She married and moved to Wayne 60 years ago. There Joyce raised four children and was a stay at home mom, something her children have been extremely grateful for, especially when school let out for the summer. That’s when she packed the kids up in the station wagon and headed to Long Beach Island on the Jersey shore. Her kids had fun in the sun, all day, all summer…swimming, crabbing, clamming, fishing and meeting new friends. Then when they reached 15 years old Joyce would drive them down to the beach on the Friday of the Memorial Day weekend. By that Monday evening they had better have a job or they stayed back in Wayne with their Dad for the summer. Needless to say, the kids all had jobs by Monday evening. It was one of the best things Joyce could have done for her children, not to mention a smart way for her to enjoy her summer as well. She taught her kids a work ethic and how to make their own money, and, as a family, they developed summertime friendships with people from all around the country. Some of those summertime friendships became year-long friendships that still endure. For all of her children those were some of the best times of their lives and they are forever grateful to their parents for those summers.
After her children started leaving the nest, one by one, a friend, Eileen Cameron from Packanack Lake, introduced her to quilting. For a while quilting would become one of Joyce’s hobbies. The quilts she made were beautiful. She enjoyed the creativeness and tranquility it gave her, so it was only natural that knitting and needlework became other hobbies that lasted until Joyce’s passing. One of her favorite needlework pieces was of a frog with the saying underneath “Forever Relying On God”. This was one of her mottos and it served her and her family well throughout their lives together.
Joyce had wit…..a dry wit, which endeared her to many, especially to her son-in-law, Tom. Jokes like….. “Mama, Papa and baby tomato were walking down the street when all of a sudden Papa tomato turned around and said to the baby tomato… ketchup!” Every time her family says that joke they can’t help but laugh! Another humorous memory was when Joyce came home one day with a cello she had rented and announced that she was going to take cello lessons because she wanted to learn the beginning of the Led Zeppelin song, Kashmir. One couldn’t help but laugh watching Joyce at 55 years old straddling that cello.
Joyce will be remembered and greatly missed by her children, son-in-law, brother and sister, and other relatives and friends from near and far. They say you cannot pick your family and for the most part that’s true. So it would be remiss to not speak about Tom becoming part of the family. To say just “son-in-law” would not put into perspective the true love and admiration which Joyce and Tom had for each other. Tom was like a son to Joyce. Anytime or anywhere she needed a helping hand Tom was always there. The qualities and mannerisms instilled in Tom by his parents spoke volumes to Joyce. To her Tom was irreplaceable. Tom whole-heartedly enjoyed her dry wit, compassion and sensibility. Both Joyce and Tom enjoyed watching the Yankees and the NY Giants when she came to visit. Watching the way 5’4” Joyce placed her hands on the sides of 6’2” Tom’s shoulders when he bent down to talk with her, one could see that theirs was a special one-of-a-kind relationship within the family.
To Joyce’s children she was not only their mother, but also their friend and confidant. Joyce’s son Joseph, who could not be with us at this time, forwarded this poem he wrote and asked that it be part of his tribute to his mom.
Mom was our rock we would cling to in a dark and stormy sea,
Mom was our sun that warmed us on a stormy winter’s day,
Mom was our moon and the stars which allowed us to dream.
We can all take comfort knowing God has cleared the path for mom’s new journey to begin and how spectacular it will be.
And when it’s time for our new journey to begin, we can rest a sure that our angel has cleared the way for us.
“Joyce’s incredible wit and sense of humor were priceless.”
Godspeed mom! Godspeed Joyce!
Joyce is survived by her four loving children, Jaime, Suzanne, and Joseph Speciale, and Stephanie Shultis and her husband Thomas. She is also survived by her sister Estella Hackel and her husband Gerard, and by her brother Robert D. Polst.
In lieu of flowers, Joyce asked that donations be made to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, NJ Metro Chapter, Aspen Corporate Park 1, 1480 U.S. Highway 9 North, Suite 301, Woodbridge, NJ 07095 (http://www.nationalmssociety.org/Chapters/NJM/Donate), or Christ Episcopal Church, 400 Ramapo Avenue, Pompton Lakes, NJ 07442.
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