Joyce Roberta Williams-VandenDolder, 71, of Kingston

Joyce Roberta Williams-VandenDolder, age 71, passed away on Wednesday, June 14, 2017 at her home in Kingston, N.Y. after a long, courageous battle with respiratory illness.

Joyce was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., to Helen Frances Williams and Robert Henry Williams.

The middle child of three, she grew up with her sister, Helen, and her late brother, Raymond.

In 1988, Joyce married William (“Bill” or “Wil”) VandenDolder. In the years that followed, the couple divided their time between their homes in Fresno, Calif., and New York.

After graduating from Eastern District High School in Brooklyn, N.Y. in 1964, Joyce attended Brooklyn College, where she received a B.A. in Education in 1969 and an M.A. in Education in 1971. She was the first college graduate in her family.

For 33 years Joyce passionately pursued her profession as an elementary school teacher in the New York City school system. From 1969 to 1993, she taught inner-city students and was a reading and language arts specialist for at-risk children in grades K through 6 at P.S. 327, Dr. Rose B. English School, in Brownsville, N.Y. From 1993 to 2002, at P.S. 18, Winchester School, in Queens, N.Y., Joyce taught preschool classes and worked as a librarian, developing various programs to improve students’ reading skills.

Joyce also mentored adults as an ESL teacher from 1975 to 1981. She taught English speaking, reading, and writing skills at the Polish Slavic Center in Greenpoint, N.Y.; the Italian American League in Bronx, N.Y.; and the Haitian Americans Association in East Flatbush, N.Y.

After retiring from teaching, Joyce volunteered her time at various charitable organizations, including Everette Hodge Community Center and The People’s Place in Kingston.

Even during her prolonged health struggles, Joyce was the eternal optimist, with her quick smile and hearty laugh. Her outgoing personality turned strangers into acquaintances and even close friends. Joyce had a voracious appetite for reading and learning. She loved attending plays and musicals; traveling to exotic places, such as Africa, the Caribbean, Europe, and New Zealand; meeting new people; eating soft-shell crabs; doing craft projects; shopping for fashionable outfits; and revering the Lord Jesus Christ.

Joyce is survived by her husband, Bill (Wil); her sister, Helen Williams of Laurelton, N.Y.; her mother-in-law, Corry VandenDolder; several brothers and sisters-in-law; and numerous aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends.

Joyce will be reposing at Simpson-Gaus Funeral Home, 411 Albany Ave., Kingston, on Thursday, June 22, 2017. Friends will be received from 2 to 5 p.m.

A funeral service will follow at 5 p.m. at the funeral home, with Hospice Chaplain Diane Epstein officiating.

Interment will take place on Friday, June 23, 2017, at noon in Pinelawn Memorial Park in Farmingdale, N.Y.

The family requests that in lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be sent to The People’s Place, 17 St. James St., Kingston, N.Y. 12401.

Online condolences may be left for the family of Joyce by visiting www. SimpsonGaus.com.