Obituary of Joyce Marie Flood

Joyce Marie Flood (née Brooks) was born in Brooklyn, New York, October 15, 1939. She died from complications of pulmonary hypertension, suddenly and mercifully, on August 17, 2020 with her husband by her side. Joyce’s mother Ann C. Brooks, father Francis X. Brooks, brother John C. Brooks and great-grandson Dylan Larkin predeceased her.

Joyce moved to Freehold, New Jersey, in January 1971. She leaves behind her best friend and the boy next door: Raymond R. Flood, Jr., her beloved husband of 59 years. On love and faith, they built a family with a legacy of service to others. Their six children and spouses include Ann and Kevin Horan, Jane and Samir Kablaoui, Raymond and Layal Flood, Maureen and Eric Fasano, Joyce and James Tuten, and Michael Flood. Her adored 14 grandchildren are Daniel Kablaoui and Natalie McBride, Christopher and Tiffany Larkin, Deena and Jake Lanier, Matthew Fasano, Philip Horan and Brianne Woop, Leena Flood and Jacob Cottrell, Rheanna Kablaoui, Nicholas Fasano, Amani Flood, Elizabeth Tuten, Katie Horan, Mark Fasano and Jessica Nussbaum, William Tuten, Dania Flood and Colin Swinburne, and great-grandson Shane Larkin. 

With the Catholic Church as her guiding light, Joyce nurtured a deep, personal, lifelong relationship with God. She served as a lector and Pre-Cana counselor at the Co-Cathedral of St. Robert Bellarmine, taught catechism to hundreds of children in Freehold, and was a spiritual counselor at the Upper Room Spiritual Center for many years. As a math teacher at Collier High School for over 20 years, she was convinced that loving her students was more important than algebra, and she expressed that love even outside of the classroom. Not only was she a soccer mom long before the term was coined, but she kept her family’s door open and an extra place set at the table, welcoming over a dozen exchange students through the years, some of whom remain family of the heart. A mother of six, she was a welcoming, wise second mother to too many young adults to count.

Joyce embraced the world and the people God created and spent many years dragging her husband across oceans and continents, along with her best friend, Sister Jane Iannucelli. Joyce was raised with a passion for classical music, drawing and painting.

The world loved her back, gravitating to her generous, genuine smile, loud laugh, and infectious joy -- the beginning of her name. Joyce offered a prayer for everyone she knew and many she didn’t, especially little children. Her eloquent letters of love, friendship, sympathy and faith were comforts that people treasured for years. Her unconditional love and faith are ours to hold until we see her again. 

A drive past visitation will take place at the Clayton & McGirr Funeral Home, 100 Elton-Adelphia Road (Route 524), Freehold Township on Friday, September 4, 2020 from 4:00 to 7:00 PM.  Anyone who would like to participate in the 7:15 PM wake service can do so through the funeral home website at https://claytonfuneralhome.com/77/Webcast.html.  Sister Jane Iannucelli will lead a reflection and prayer service followed by words of remembrance from the family.  Relatives and friends are invited to participate in her 10:00 AM Funeral Mass via webcast on the Clayton & McGirr Funeral Home website on Saturday, September 5, 2020.  Interment will be private.

In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of this remarkable woman can be made to the Sisters of Charity Ministry Fund, Mount St. Vincent, 6301 Riverdale Ave, Bronx, NY 10472, or the Sisters of the Good Shepherd, Collier Services, 160 Conover Road, Wickatunk, NJ 07765 or Sisters of Mercy, Mid Atlantic Community, 1645 US Highway 22, Watchung, NJ 07069, Attention: Linda Cavalla.  For information, directions or to leave condolence messages to the family, visit www.claytonfuneralhome.com