Staff and board members of Greenleaf Family Center described Judy Joyce as a hands-on leader dedicated to her work, a mentor to her staff and someone who left the agency better than she found it.
After 31 years with Greenleaf, Joyce, 64, officially retired Tuesday.
A brief stint heading the YWCA (1989-1994) separated her service at Greenleaf.
“I always felt I had a commitment to work with families,” Joyce said. “I had a great experience at the YWCA and thought I could offer some of that back at Greenleaf. The YWCA concentrates on women and girls’ programs, but no counseling. I missed counseling. I think my heart and roots were at Greenleaf.”
The chair of Greenleaf’s directors, Brenda Cummins, has been on the board for nine years and has known Joyce for 23 years, when she herself used the agency.
She said Joyce helped bring the 21-member board together as a well-functioning unit.
“Judy was always in touch with the needs of the community,” Cummins said. “She is a hands-on leader and also a mentor to her staff. Her staff has really grown under her leadership. She’s a very quiet person. She is a humble leader, but she definitely walks the walk.”
Cummins said Joyce displays the kind of demeanor that welcomes people to talk and is a great listener. She also called her a good organizer who made sure the relocation of the agency last year was flawless as it celebrated its 100th anniversary in a newly renovated building on Grant Street just south of the University of Akron campus.
“We always looked at what families needed and what they were telling us they needed and tried to respond to that,” Joyce said. “Families need all kinds of support — when they enter marriage or [are] buying a home or dealing with a difficult economy.
“The economy can exasperate problems that may already exist or actually create some. We see a lot of families coming in with issues related to parent-child relationships, anger management, and a lot of stress, either on the job or lack of a job.”
Joyce said the Greenleaf has succeeded because of the staff and board.
“They are the ones who live it and work it every single day. I was blessed,” she said.
Joyce said she enjoyed the people she worked with because they shared the same philosophy.
“We all had the same goal, and tried to reach it in various ways, but it basically was to help families improve and to make sure they were really meeting their potential,” Joyce said. “We helped each other. We wanted everybody to be successful.”
Greenleaf Family Center currently runs 17 programs, many in place for more than a decade. Joyce said success stories can be found in each one.
“I am proud of all of them. Our deaf and hard-of-hearing program is unique and has been in existence for 40 years. We define success when we see people in our counseling program who have managed to work out some very serious problems, or people in our financial services program who have been able to overcome debt,” she said.
Joyce talked about the teenage parent program and the success of seeing girls overcoming obstacles and going to college. Or knowing that when the children in Greenleaf’s early education program go to kindergarten they will do well.
“We hear about success stories every day,” Joyce said. “It’s been a wonderful journey. I know I will stay in touch with people and may be able to contribute in other ways as I settle into my new career of retirement. For now, I think I’m just on vacation.”
Joyce said she is going to spend a lot of time gardening and also plans to work a couple of days a week with a friend who owns a plant farm in Canal Fulton.
She is also looking into some other fun things to do, like learning to speak Spanish.
She and her husband of 34 years, Grant, have two daughters: Janay, a social worker in Chicago; and Molly, a teacher in St. Louis.
“We have fun cities to visit,” Joyce said. “We are also looking forward to being grandparents. My older daughter and her husband are expecting their first child in October.”
Dawn Glenny Jones has been named to take over leadership of Greenleaf Family Center.
For more information about the agency and its programs, go to www.greenleafctr.org.
Marilyn Miller can be reached at 330-996-3098 or mmiller@thebeaconjournal.com.