Joycelyn “Joy” Labonte

“Such hours are beautiful to live, but are hard to describe…” – Louisa May Alcott.

After 93 years of living every hour of her sparkling life on the path that made her the happiest, Joycelyn “Joy” Labonte has waved off her family from her doorstep one final time. As this door closes, she will embark on a new path. It is the invisible journey, indescribable to those she loves, but one that will be revealed to her like the sun rising in the east. 

Born in Canandaigua, New York, on June 2, 1932, to George Clayton and Reba May Van Artsdalen, Joy is survived by her ardent spouse of 25 years, Arsene “Sam” Labonte, her three, loving daughters Dawn Joy Wood, of Brockport, New York, Vanette Marie Richard and her husband Raymond of Sturbridge, Massachusetts, Stacey Suzette Wood, of Lakeland, Florida, and her step-children Derrick Labonte and his wife Mira of Lutz, Florida and Lorrie Tourville of Vernon, Connecticut. 

Affectionately known as Mimi to her eight grandchildren, Sarah Marie Northrop, of New Hampshire, Amanda Joy Northrop, and her partner Gina Snowden, of New Hampshire, Joy Marie Hosford, and her husband Richard of Massachusetts, Matthew Garrison Richard, of Maryland, Jeffery Edward Goodemote, of Florida, Alicia Joy Padalino, and husband Joseph of Illinois, Christopher “C.J.” Labonte of Florida, and Cassandra Tourville of Connecticut, along with her beloved older brother, Donald Van Artsdalen, and his wife, Gloria, of San Antonio, Texas.  

She was predeceased by her loving husband, Walter Garrison Wood, in August of 1980, and her younger sister, Jacqueline Van Artsdalen Rossiner.

Joy lived by the motto, “If a little is good, a lot might just be better.” 

You could see this in her passion for fashion, a perfect manicure she maintained for decades, her decor, and her love of “just a bite” of dessert after dinner.

The daughter of an Air Force chaplain, Joy’s family was always on the move. She spent her younger years between New York and Texas. She grew into an honorary southern belle after a childhood of roller skating and tree climbing. 

Joy attended nursing school in Texas in her early 20s and soon after married Walter, affectionately known to family as Gary, in 1952 in Victor, New York. They settled in Spencerport, New York, where they raised their girls. 

She met Sam while living in Sturbridge, Massachusetts, and they married in 2000. They have been Florida residents for more than two decades. 

Joy will be missed by those who loved her, but she will remain a beautiful memory for those whose lives she touched.  

Private services, Parma Corners Cemetery.