Joyce Marie Florist

On Saturday, March 21, 2026, Joyce Marie Florist (ree Friend, Sykes) of Levittown, Pennsylvania left us to go home to her beloved husband, Telesfor (“T.J.”) Florist, Jr. who preceded her in death in 2024.

How can eighty-years of a life well-lived be condensed into just a few short paragraphs? In the simplest terms, the answer is this: love. Joyce loved her husband, loved her family, and loved her many friends and extended family more than anything else in this world. As a young single-mother in her thirties, she faced her share of struggles. She sacrificed, worked tirelessly, and returned to school—attending night classes at Bucks County Community College and Temple University—and she made sure that her children never went without. Every birthday was marked with celebration, cake, laughter, and gifts. Christmases were always made special, with presents under the tree, even in difficult times when she quietly sold off her personal belongings to ensure her children always knew the joy of having a merry Christmas. Christmastime was her favorite time of the year. She was known throughout the neighborhood for her beautifully decorated home, especially her festive window displays and carefully adorned trees.

In 1984 she met the “love of her life,” T.J. and together they shared forty-years of marriage. In her own words, “In 1984 my life took a major change, my Dad died and I met T.J. I think my Dad waited to die until he knew that I had someone who would be my friend, lover and companion for the rest of my life. In T.J. is a part of my Dad and I see it every day when I look at him. I don't know how I would have gotten through life without my Dad and my Husband. At Christmas time and always I think of my Dad and thank him for picking my husband because I know he did. He also found me "Pop Florist" because in him I also saw my Dad. They had the same spirit…… happy, loving men who cared for their families more than anything else in the world.” Joyce and T.J. traveled the world together, including ports-of-call in Italy, Haiti, Mexico, Ireland, Dubrovnik, numerous islands in the Caribbean, and summers spent in Bar Harbor, ME, making memories that they would treasure for the rest of their lives.

In the early-1980’s, Joyce found her passion helping others, working in the Physical Therapy Department at St. Mary’s Hospital in Langhorne, PA. It was at St. Mary’s where she met some of her closest life-long friends – Arlene, Diane, Marcia, and Ellie – all of whom became part of her extended family and they remained close friends throughout their lives. Joyce also had a life-long love for growing plants and flowers and won a first-place award from The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society at the Philadelphia Flower Show in 1978. After retiring from St. Mary’s, she returned to her love of plants, working at Feeney's Garden Center in Feasterville, PA. Her love for growing and caring for plants was something she carried with her up until her very last day.

But most importantly, she loved her husband, her family and especially time spent with family. As her family grew with grandchildren, so too did the love grow and family events – Christmases, Birthdays, Thanksgivings, Easters, Mother’s Days, Father’s Days, Backyard Barbeques, and random “Sombrero-wearing” Cinco-De-Mayo Days – became even more special and important to her. These were the snapshots in time that meant the most to her; family moments filled with love, laughter, copious amounts of delicious food and beverages, laugh-out-loud conversations, grandchildren’s antics, and T.J.’s now infamous after-dinner quote, “Can I take a nap now?” She opened her home to friends, neighbors, and extended family who would often stop by to share in the festivities. All were welcome. “The more, the merrier,” she would say.

She loved being a grandmother to her seven grandchildren – Brandon, Corey, Hunter, Chase, Markie, Grace and Addison – and both she and T.J. would cheer them on together and celebrate their accomplishments at countless concerts, school events, competitions, plays, and sporting events over the years. During a particularly dark period when Brandon was diagnosed with childhood leukemia, Joyce and T.J. took on the role of caregiver while Brandon’s father was at work and helped him to battle the disease through to remission. She loved her grandchildren.

Her last years were spent at The Birches of Newtown Assisted Living facility in Newtown, PA, where she had moved with T.J. in 2023, prior to his passing in January 2024. She was described by the staff at The Birches as “spirted,” “feisty,” and “a special lady,” who was once reprimanded for racing her electric wheelchair down the hall, while pulling another resident in tow. But while she made the best of her situation, those who knew her best knew that she was so very sad and lonely without T.J., and she was ready to go to find him again. She spent her final days caring for her plants, visiting with her dear friends Joanne and Bob, and sharing meals and coffee with her sons.

Joyce was not perfect and had her share of flaws just like the rest of us and she certainly had her fair share of struggles and disappointments throughout her eighty-year journey, but she also gave and received a lot of love and touched so many lives for the good. She often said, “Life is just a series of trade-offs—because no one gets it all.” In the end, the choices, sacrifices and “trade-offs” that she made became a gift to those she leaves behind: unconditional love and a lifetime of enduring special memories and moments in time that we will always carry with us.

In the final analysis, the possessions that we accumulate are merely trivial props in the larger story of our lives. All of the “stuff” that we amass, sooner or later, ends up in thrift shops, antique store booths, or in a landfill, but the love and the memories remain a part of us for a lifetime and get passed on when we are gone. Thank you, Mom. We love you.

Joyce is survived by her children, Keith A. Sykes of Morgantown, PA, Matthew R. Sykes (Brittany Hughes) of Bensalem, PA, Heather Kiefer (Mark Kiefer) of Ocean Pines, MD, and her Grandchildren, Brandon A. Sykes, Corey Sykes, Hunter Kiefer, Mark Kiefer, Jr., Chase Sykes, Grace Sykes, and Addison Sykes.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made in Joyce's memory to Make a Wish Foundation, Philadelphia, Delaware & Susquehanna Valley 5 Valley Square, Suite 210 Blue Bell, PA 19422 or St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105