Joy Schenker

April 4, 1948 – December 4, 2025

Joy Schenker (Clark) passed away on Thursday afternoon, December 4, 2025, in the presence of her husband, Bob Schenker. She was predeceased by her sister, Judy Gaines.

Joy bravely fought against cancer many times in her life. She beat breast cancer in 1999. In addition, she was treated for lymphoma in 1999, 2001, and 2007. She was finally cured by a stem cell transplant and was able to have a happy, productive life, except for some minor cases of skin cancer until 2025. She was diagnosed with lung cancer (she never smoked) and a number of strokes starting in August of this year. Unfortunately, she lost the energy and will to fight when the chemotherapy proved to be ineffective.

Joy was born in California and was raised in both California and Oregon. She studied business and education at the University of Oregon and the University of California at Berkeley. She taught business courses at several California high schools and served as a public accountant and financial planner. She finished as a personal investor managing a California rental property and the family’s finances.

Joy picked up Bob at a party thrown by a mutual friend in 1977. A fairly long romance was followed by marriage on a San Francisco Bay tour boat three years later. Since then, they have lived in Alameda, CA; Trumbull, CT; Centerville, MA; and Naples, FL. Joy is survived by three children, Gregory, Aaron, and Lindsay, and three grandchildren, John, Heidi, and Collin. Joy is also survived by her brother, David Clark, and sisters, Dorothy Ott and Kathy Gorman.

Joy was a very active person, enjoying the great outdoors through walking, hiking, camping, biking, swimming, and kayaking. She was also an avid gardener with a great enjoyment of daylilies. We were members of the American Hemerocallis Society and frequently went to meetings and garden tours throughout the East to see daylilies when we were living in Connecticut. We traveled frequently since Bob’s retirement with trips to Scotland, Belize, Canada, and England. We also cruised to Alaska, Canada, the Caribbean, and Europe.

Joy also enjoyed playing duplicate contract bridge both online and in person. Joy and a friend of hers scored high in a very competitive “open” online game three weeks before her passing.

Joy and Bob were married for 45 years. This longevity resulted from mutual loving care, acceptance, friendship, and a whole lot of respect. She will be missed greatly.

A celebration of Joy’s life will be held at Doane, Beal & Ames Funeral Home, 160 West Main Street, Hyannis, MA, on Saturday, December 13th at 3:00 PM. This will be preceded by a gathering of family and friends at the Funeral Home from 1:00 to 3:00 PM. Light refreshments and beverages will be provided. A hosted dinner will be provided at 5:00 PM at Villaggio Prime Bar & Grille at 4631 Falmouth Rd. in Cotuit, MA. In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to a charity of your choice in Joy’s memory.