Joye Bunds

Joye Bunds

Our amazing and beloved mother and friend Joye Bunds left this world on the 30th of June, 2022. Joye passed peacefully with her family at her side.

Joye’s journey began in a Victor Iowa farmhouse in 1932, where she was born to Lenore (nee Groff) and Harry Danovski. As a youngster, she lived in Iowa, Palo Alto California, and Illinois. After losing her parents at far too young of an age, she took a train from Illinois to Palo Alto where she was taken in by her devoted grandmother Minnie Groff and her grandfather John. She grew up there, raised by Minnie and with an extended family including her Uncle Red (Lewis Groff), his wife Esther, their children Bob and Kathy (Joye’s favorite cousins), her Aunt Ann and husband Wilson Causey. She attended Lytton Elementary and Palo Alto High School, graduating in 1949.

After coursework at San Jose State and venturing to bustling San Francisco to complete secretarial school, Joye landed a job at a local engineering and tech firm called Johnson & Williams. Then in 1957 her life changed when she was introduced to a handsome young Menlo College student who was fresh out of the military. His name was Patrick Bunds, and after a courageously short three-month courtship they were wed in Reno, Nevada, forming a life-long marriage and partnership. The couple made a home in Pleasanton, California, and then just over a year later they welcomed their daughter Michele into the world. Two years later, they purchased a home in Fremont and then along came their son Michael in 1961. While Joye and Patrick perhaps weren’t creative in naming their children, they certainly were unquestioningly loving and devoted to them. Joye’s marriage also led to wonderful life-long bonds with her in-laws Margaret and Leo (Patrick’s parents), Patrick’s sister Maryalice, her husband Bob Puppo, and their son Ronald, with whom Joye’s family celebrated many holidays and events.

Once Michele and Michael had a few years under their belts, Joye returned to the workforce by taking a secretarial position at Conrad Noll School in Fremont. This was the beginning of a long career working in K-12 education where she put her prodigious talents to use anchoring school offices. In 1969, the family resettled in Carmichael California so Patrick could take a promotion. Joye would remain in the home that they purchased on Frontier Way in Carmichael for 50 years. She continued her efforts as a mother and homemaker and went to work at Schweizer Elementary School. She supported her husband and children’s many wild endeavors into motorcycle and minibike racing, age-group running, and bicycle racing while often foregoing personal interests because her family was her interest. She also tolerated their idiosyncrasies with love and humor, even maintaining her sense of humor about her son’s lack of organization with the log-on cue “my son pays bills late” that he has gotten to see regularly while helping with her finances in recent years.

Before Joye knew it, both her children were out of the house. Michele graduated from Sacramento State and Michael skipped off to U.C. Santa Barbara. Joye lost Patrick to cancer in 1993, caring for him with all her heart and soul to the end. Patrick was taken too early, but instead of complaining Joye continued working, focused on her home, and became a dedicated runner herself. She ran virtually to New York and back, won her age group in Susan B. Anthony races while running with Michele, and participated in other local running events. Michael skipped away further, to Utah, to complete a Ph.D. and work as a professor, and then in 1995 Joye retired but stayed in touch with her colleagues through their Golden Girls group. Joye was delighted when Michele met her husband Tom Williams and they were married in 2000. The two of them then moved to Georgia to begin their own family. Though her children had well and truly left the nest, they visited regularly, did trips with her, and Michael was often able to make extended summer stays to help around the house. She also took to Laura Benninger as if she were a second daughter, enjoying many evening meals with her in Carmichael.

In 2003 and 2005 Joye welcomed Michele & Tom’s children Katya and Cameron to her great happiness. She made frequent trips to see them in Georgia, and they visited her in Carmichael. As the years passed, she grew a beautiful garden of roses, camelias, and trees at her home. She became the go-to computer expert among her friends, and she continued running then later walking daily. She took great pleasure from her cats Meggie, Callie, and especially Sammy. But by 2019, Joye was ready to have a little help with her affairs and moved to Salt Lake City where she could be near Michael and his partner Anne Arendt. In 2021, Joye was all smiles all day at Anne and Michael’s wedding. With an ear-to-ear grin she demanded of Michael, “Let me see that ring, I need proof that you finally got married.”. Anne soon proved herself to be the world’s best daughter-in-law and she and Joye formed a tight connection built on love and trust. Joye got a third grandchild, Alex, from this marriage, and they also bonded to the point that sometimes when Michael visited her apartment she would say, “oh it’s you; where’s Alex?”

Joye’s time with us ended with her children and friends at her side. She also had wonderful care and support from the staff at Legacy Village and Enhabit Hospice, for which they have our heartfelt gratitude. She maintained her sense of humor to the end, quipping “are we having fun yet,” and “let me feel your mustache Mike. No, I don’t like it; Anne what do you think?” Joye was predeceased by her mother Lenore, father Harry, Grandparents Minnie and John, and husband Patrick. She leaves her children Michele (and husband Tom) and Michael (and wife Anne), and grandchildren Alex, Cameron, and Katya.