1952 - 2021
OBITUARY
Joyce Marie Lydon was born on January 3, 1952 in Boston, MA. She attended Monsignor Ryan Memorial High School where she played basketball and learned French. Joyce continued her education at the Catherine Labouré School of Nursing in Milton, MA. She then worked as a Registered Nurse at Carney Hospital in Dorchester, MA, the University of Virginia, San Francisco General, Stony Brook University Hospital, Murphy Jr. High School, Ward Melville High School, and the Southampton Fresh Air Home. Joyce took a break from nursing while her kids were young. During this time Joyce volunteered with Three Village Soccer Club, Girl Scouts, and St. James R.C. Church as a lector and coordinator for Pre-Cana.
Joyce embraced her identity as a nurse by always helping those who were sick, in pain, or had chronic health problems and disabilities. This was evident in her care and advocacy for her own children- as they seemed to develop rare injuries and diseases! When her son, Jonathan, suffered a spinal cord injury, Joyce never left his side - grilling the doctors and helping him make a full recovery. When her daughter, Maggie, suddenly fell ill with Guillain-Barre Syndrome, Joyce helped her through an arduous recovery process that lasted months. She was an unconditional source of love, strength, and support in the hardest times to both of her children and to countless friends and family members.
Joyce loved carrot cake, skim milk, crossword puzzles, Twizzlers, the color purple, poodles, Audrey Hepburn, and NCIS. She had a wicked sense of humor and embraced her Irish roots by surviving mostly on meat and potatoes. Whenever someone commented on her cursing she would reply, “I can’t help it, I’m from Southie,” with a smile. She remembered much of the French she learned in high school and had hoped to visit France after COVID with her son and daughter-in-law.
Joyce was predeceased by her father William T. Lydon, her brother Barry Lydon, her stepfather John Swift, her mother Mary Holland Lydon Swift, and most recently her poodles Sirius Black and Dixie. She is survived by her brother and his spouse, Billy Lydon (Sharon), her late brother’s spouse, Mary Lydon, and her loving children and their spouses, Jonathan (Stephanie), and Maggie (Matt). She most loved spending time with her three granddaughters, Joy (7), Delilah (4), Michaela (3) and her grand-poodle, Terrien. A Celebration of Life will be held this Spring in Westchester, N.Y.
In lieu of flowers Joyce would have loved donations to her favorite place,
Southampton Fresh Air Home
36 Barkers Island Road
Southampton, NY 11968
Private Funeral Services