Joyce Slark Furby

Joyce S. Furby passed peacefully on October 30, 2022. Joyce immigrated from Bolton, England in 1954 and finally landed in San Diego, CA in 1957. Joyce met Jim Furby, her husband of over 50 years while James was building Sea World in 1963. Joyce was the marketing and public relations director for helping get Sea World off the ground nationally and internationally. After her retirement from Sea World in 1969, Joyce went on to work as a public relations, marketing, and group sales director for the theatre business that she loved so much. Her work included working with the Off-Broadway Theatre, Civic Theatre, and other theatres in San Diego during that time. She also worked at KSDO radio station for a short while.

In Joyce’s latter years, she enjoyed working with philanthropical organizations such as the Salk Institute, Combo Arts, La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art, Sea World HUB Research and Scripps Institute of Oceanography, San Diego Ballet and the La Jolla YMCA. For several years straight, she was the largest fundraiser for the La Jolla YMCA. In Joyce’s spare time she would teach yoga at the Firehouse YMCA in downtown La Jolla where she taught Bikram yoga, Pilates, pre-natal yoga and beginners’ yoga and eventually had a professional video made entitled “Joy Furby Feel-Good Yoga”. Joy was an avid walker, scuba diver and swimmer and enjoyed many visits in her lifetime to the Hawaiian Islands which Jim and her spent lots of time visiting. Joyce was also a proud supporter of her husband Jim Furby who sat on the AGC SD board for many years and both Joyce and Jim were instrumental in reducing the cost of the property that the new AGC SD property sits, helping make the AGC’s investment in this construction training facility viable and affordable. Joyce and Jim recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary prior to Jim’s passing in July 2021.

Joyce is survived by her son Mike Furby and daughter Nicola S. Badamo both of whom live in San Diego, and her six grandchildren. Joyce had a spark for life, and she was loved by everyone around her. Her great personality and smile will be sorely missed by all. A Celebration of Life will be held sometime in December in La Jolla, CA.