Mary Teresa Joy

Mary Joy, 81, passed away peacefully on May 19, 2011 after a 35 year battle with multiple sclerosis. Mary was surrounded by her loving family at her home in Lynnwood, Washington.  She was born the oldest daughter of Leo and Frances Bratsky in Bridger, Montana on May 16, 1930. Mary worked on the family farm, went to Bridger public schools, and moved to Billings with the family to care for her hospitalized mother.  Mary eventually moved to Seattle where she met and married James ‘Art’ Joy. Mary and Art were married for 30 years and raised four children in Seattle’s Sand Point neighborhood. Mary was a hard-working wife, mother, waitress, bartender, and business owner.  In 1981, she was forced into early retirement because of mobility complications from multiple sclerosis. She bravely refused to give in to the disease, traveling several times across the country using a car with hand controls.  Mary will be remembered for her strength and quiet determination, her generosity and kindness, and her practical approach to life. Mary was preceded in death by her husband, James; her parents, Leo and Frances; her sisters Frances and Lillian, and brothers, Charles and Leo. She is survived by her brother Hank (Betty) Bratsky of Billings; her sons, Joe (Susan) Joy of Olympia, and John Joy of Bothell; her daughters Anna (Pat) Plunkett of Lynnwood and Elizabeth (Lucy) Joy of Bothell; and five granddaughters and two great grandsons.