Joyce E. Fannaly

Ms. Joyce E. Fannaly, age 98 years, passed away on October 16, 2025. A native of Ponchatoula, LA, and a resident of River Ridge, LA, she was the daughter of the late John J. Fannaly, II and Josie Yochim Fannaly Freeman, and the sister of John J. Fannaly, III. Ms. Fannaly is preceded in death by her beloved friend, Carolyn S. Perseveaux. She is survived by many friends and relatives, too numerous to mention.

Once in a While a Friend is Found

Who’s a Friend Right from The Start,

Once in a While a Friendship is Made

That Really Warms the Heart,

Once in a While a Friendship is Formed

To Last a Lifetime Through…

It Really does Happen, just Once in a While

It Happened To Me And You.

Joyce was blessed with a loving, long-time companion in Carolyn. Together they celebrated 68 years of friendship, love, and laughter.

Joyce was a member of four clubs: the Little Gourmets, the Gourmets, the Hyde Posse, and the Mamou Riding Club. She enjoyed cooking and loved gardening.

Joyce was a very warm person, with an analytical and amiable personality. She strived for perfection, be it in cooking, decorating her home, or always doing her chores in advance. Her amiable side was obvious in that she loved her family, friends and pets, especially her cats, Jerry Atric and Ebony.

We called her “Miss Corporal Works of Mercy,” because she visited the sick and buried the dead. She took care of friends who had cancer and was in charge of burying three of her dear friends after Hurricane Katrina.

In 2017, Carolyn gave Joyce a 90th Birthday Party at the Rose Garden, inviting the members of the four clubs they belonged to. Seventy-five members were invited, seventy-eight came, according to the door count!

Joyce was loved at Jones & Laughlin, Thomson-Hayward and Dixie Beer, serving as their Payroll Clerk and Pension Coordinator. She also worked for the I.R.S. at the Cotton Exchange at the foot of Canal Street.

Joyce and Carolyn really enjoyed traveling together and sailed away on 67 cruises, (number 68 was cancelled due to COVID-19). They sailed across the Pacific from Oahu, Hawaii to Ensenada, Mexico on the Inaugural RCL ship, Splendor of the Seas and sailed across the Atlantic from England to New York on the Inaugural Cunard Ship, Queen Mary II. They sailed through the Panama Canal. They also loved taking fully escorted bus trips through Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Turkey, Alaska, and Hawaii. They took two trips to Germany, because on the first trip, Joyce broke her hip coming down from King Ludwig’s Castle, Neuschwanstein.

Services for Joyce will be held on Friday, October 24, 2025 at Lake Lawn Metairie Funeral Home at 5100 Pontchartrain Blvd, New Orleans. Public visitation will be held from 12:30 – 2:00 P.M. The service will then be held in Lake Lawn Metairie Funeral Home Chapel at 2:00 P.M., immediately followed by interment in Metairie Cemetery.