Joy was born in 1944 in Minneapolis, Minnesota during wartime. Her father was away serving his country in the army, so she lived with her grandmother and her mother, Dorothy Easter. Joy’s brother Richard also lived with them. Her father, Richard, was a Captain and a medical doctor. Joy remembered that her mother and father were crazy in love and didn’t try to hide it. When Joy’s father returned from the service, her parents made three more children. Joy, being the eldest of five children, was busy caring for her siblings for most of her childhood and teenage years. Joy recalls that growing up in her home was stressful and challenging. While it was difficult, she was able to make the best of her experience and turned her trauma into insight.
Joy loved school and was an exceptional student. Learning came very quick and easy to Joy. In preschool she would arrange her classroom, teaching her peers as if she were the teacher herself. Later in school, other children would ask for the answers to questions and some kids resented her for being so smart. Even still, Joy had a desire to share her knowledge.
Seeing how teachers could change people’s lives really left an impression on Joy. When it came time to go to college, Joy attended the University of Minnesota. It was there that Joy received a double Masters degree in Language and Education.
While in college Joy met Craig Foch who would soon become her husband. Craig and Joy had their first child, Bethany Joy. In the years that followed Joy had two more children, two little boys named Ryan and Mathew. Joy’s children seem to be her biggest source of pride: “I have the most amazing children” Joy says. Bethany, who went to M.I.T. is an engineer and has two children of her own. Ryan, who loves to laugh, along with being very smart and wise, is a Harvard profressor. Mathew, Joy’s youngest and the only child living in Santa Cruz, works as a teacher at the Waldorf school.
Joy has recently retired from her own teaching career. During her professional life, Joy worked at many different schools and even owned and operated her own! Joy has also done a lot of traveling within the States and throughout Europe.
When I asked Joy what she likes about La Posada she said, “If I didn’t like it I would leave” through her beautiful smile. Joy feels like her needs are being met here. She also enjoys giving back and helping others. Over the years Joy has had many experiences, both positive and negative, and she has come out the other end stronger and wiser. Joy is kindhearted, insightful and encouraging. It’s been great to have gotten to know her better.