Joyce Galbraith Colony

Joyce Galbraith Colony, April 14, 1928 - January 20, 2025 Florence Joyce Galbraith arrived as her mother's 25th birthday present on April 14, 1928, and proceeded to take the world into her own hands. Walking unsupervised on tops of fences as a small girl, being the groom at weddings officiated by her sister Betsy (their pit bull Jojo always the bride), pulling her future husband Billy Colony off the wall at the 11th grade dance, Joyce was a force to be reckoned with. She flew fearlessly with her father in his barnstormer plane after church on Sundays, wearing her own leather flight helmet. She reveled in her studies at Hollins College, proudly turning cartwheels as Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream and earning a BA in Piano. As a mother, on Halloween she dressed convincingly as a witch, stirring a large smoking cauldron in the front yard while reciting "double, double, toil and trouble" from Macbeth. She was an accomplished classical pianist, performer, and piano teacher; a strong mother who raised four independent daughters; a supportive wife and creative homemaker; a cultivator of glorious gardens; a devoted church organist and choir director; and a friend to her neighbors and their dogs, whom she loved unquestioningly (dogs out for a walk knew to pause at her mailbox for cookies). After studying for and receiving her masters in English from UVa while her children attended elementary to high school, she became a published newspaper essayist, short story writer, and poet. She volunteered with Hospice for many years, and in "retirement" knitted beautiful baby caps as a volunteer at UVa Hospital, no two the same. Joyce was a life member of the Friday Morning Music Club, Washington, DC, a founding member of the Clan Galbraith Society (whose motto, fittingly, translates to "Stronger When Opposed"), and a member for many years in The English-Speaking Union, The Wednesday Music Club, the National Society of Arts & Letters, the League of Women Voters, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the Fortnightly Club. She proclaimed that she was never bored. Joyce was also a world traveler ("strangers are just friends I haven't made yet"), a faithful correspondent, and sender of useful gifts. Grandmother to five, she was a wonderful storyteller with a sly sense of humor. Her family and friends around the world will greatly miss the love, guidance, and support of "She Who Must Be Obeyed." Survivors include beloved sisters Elizabeth Galbraith DeCarolis and Carolyn Galbraith Nolan and brothers-in-law Laurence F. DeCarolis and Donald B. Nolan; daughters M Allison Colony; Anne Mandeville Colony and grandson Samuel David Colony; Laura Colony Camacho and grandsons Diego Antonio Camacho and Matias Liam Camacho; and Jane Colony Mills, son-in-law Ian Samuel Mills, and granddaughters Claire Louise Mills and Sarah Emily Mills; and five nieces and nephews and their families. Joyce was predeceased by her husband William Mandeville Colony in 2000 and her parents, Bartram Allison Galbraith and Florence Davey Galbraith. The family thanks the nurses and staff of The Carlyle long-term care unit at Martha Jefferson House and Lisa McDermott, MD, and Sue Kiley, AGACNP-BC, of Health and Wellness Medical Services, for their kind, supportive care for Joyce over the last three years. We also thank the warm and loving caregivers of the Trinity Hospice team. Service, burial, and reception will be Friday, February 7, beginning at 1:00 pm, at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Ivy, Virginia. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made in Joyce's memory to Hollins University's general Music Scholarship Fund, Hollins University, Box 9629, 7916 Williamson Rd., Roanoke, VA 24020; to the Nature Camp Foundation Scholarship Fund; and to Live Arts. Please see the links below.