Joyce Lynn Coppola

Joyce Lynn Coppola

AGE: 64 • Hillsborough

Joyce Lynn Coppola, 64, passed away Wednesday, April 13, 2011, at Robert Wood Johnson Hospital, New Brunswick. Joyce died of natural causes after battling several years of complicated health challenges.

She is survived by her loving daughter, Sekayi Mushonga; son-in-law, Ryan Karim; grandchild, Nailah; sister, MaryAnne Parkhurst; brother, John Perina. Joyce was a caring mother, grandmother, sister, aunt and step-mother. She lived with her daughter in Hillsborough, NJ.

Joyce was born in Summit, NJ on Feb. 4, 1947 and grew up in Garwood with her parents, John and Rose Perina and siblings, MaryAnne and John. Joyce became a nurse and worked at Elizabeth General Hospital, where she met the love of her life, Christopher Mushonga. After their daughter was born, they moved to Zimbabwe in 1979, where Joyce lived until 1997, when she returned to her family in NJ. She died a peaceful death. Joyce was known for her sense of humor and was an unconventional woman who was dearly loved and is already missed.

"We pray that, like you, we will each also complete our race on earth and one day, when it is the Lord's time, join you in the bosom of our Lord Jesus Christ, where we will meet to part no more ways."

A Memorial Mass will be 10 a.m. Tuesday, April 19 in Mary Mother of God Church, 157 S. Triangle Rd., Hillsborough, NJ 08844. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation, noting Joyce's name, to Crawford House, P.O. Box 255, Skillman, NJ 08558, which is a not-for-profit agency providing transitional housing and treatment to women in early recovery from addiction or to the Best Friends Animal Society at www.bestfriends.org. Arrangements are under the direction of the Hillsborough Funeral Home.