Joyce S. Lovell

Joyce Lovell-10001 (1)Joyce Smelik Lovell, 76, of Red Bank, NJ, and formerly of Woolwich Township, NJ, passed away on June 27, 2017, surrounded by many of her family members. She was born in the Bronx, NY on August 12, 1941, the daughter of the late Helen Makara Smelik and the late Andrew Smelik. When she was twelve, the family moved from the Bronx, to Oakland, NJ, and after completing her education at Indian Hills Regional High School, she worked in the baking industry, and then drove school bus routes for several years.

 

In 1961, she met Theodore Lovell, then of Franklin Lakes, NJ, and in 1963, they were married in the First Presbyterian Church in Glens Falls, New York, to begin a wonderful life together for 54 years. In late 1963, they moved to Lake Iosco, in Bloomingdale NJ, then moved to Woolwich, NJ in 1984, and in 2015, moved to Red Bank, NJ.

 

One of her favorite hobbies was making wooden children’s toys in her workshop; many of those toys still exist. A large portion of her time was spent traveling with her husband, assisting in the supervision of his engineering projects. Her entire life was dedicated to helping other people; this included becoming a certified First Responder, and a certified Defibrillation Technician. She spent 10 years volunteering at the local schools, 12 years as a trained Contact Helpline Volunteer and Trainer, 13 years as a Hospice Volunteer, and found the time and energy to be a yearly blood donor.

 

She was an ordained Deacon at the Woodstown Presbyterian Church, and while living in Woolwich, spent over 8000 hours as a volunteer in the Emergency Section of the Salem County Memorial Hospital, and in 2002 was bestowed with the Volunteer of the Year award.

 

She is survived by her husband, Ted, and daughters Karen Lovell, (Michael), Barbara Lovell, (John), and grandchildren Matthew, Sawyer and Makara Napoli; her siblings Maryann Pruiksma, (Jim), Donald Smelik, Diana Willoughby, (Bob), Linda Smelik, (Helen), and Ricky Smelik, (Nancy); step daughters Laurie Candelora, (Kent), Dorothy Peppard, (Jack), Valerie Parry, (Jack), Cynthia Koontz, (Tom), and grandchildren Kristin, Ryan, Taryn, Colin, Sam, Vanessa, Taylor, Madison, David, Benjamin, Thomas and Brady; and great-grandchildren Noah, Charlotte, Gianna, Dominic, Luca and Karolina.

 

In honor of Joyce’s commitment to helping individuals receive warm and compassionate end-of-life-care, the family requests that, in lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the National Hospice Foundation: National Hospice Foundation 1731 King Street, Alexandria, Virginia 22314 (877) 470-6472, or nationalhospicefoundation.org, with notification sent to: The Lovell Family at 329 Linden Avenue, Locust NJ 07760.

 

Memorial Celebration of Life services for Joyce will be held at Woodstown Presbyterian Church, 46 Auburn Road, Woodstown NJ 08089 at 11:00am on Saturday, July 15, 2017, with a luncheon to follow at the Creekside Inn, 197 East Avenue, Woodstown, NJ.

Please visit www.htlayton.com to leave a note of condolence to the family. Arrangements are by the H.T. Layton Funeral Home & Cremation Service.