Joyce Zwickel

Joyce (née Herbert) Zwickel, 90, passed peacefully on June 14, 2025 at her home in Mystic, CT with her family by her side, surrounding her with deep love, heartfelt gratitude and a lifetime of treasured shared stories.

Joyce loved people, and loved her family fiercely. Born in Buffalo, NY, on May 5, 1935 to Richard and Clara Herbert, she often told childhood stories about WWII and the impacts on home, from wartime drills and victory gardens to rationing, but the biggest impact was learning how people had been affected. Social justice has always been integral to Joyce: reaching out and befriending a young immigrant child sitting alone on the schoolyard bench during childhood; collaborating with and befriending people of all backgrounds during her time working in a cancer lab in college; connecting with people of all races throughout her life. Joyce believed that people should be treated with dignity, fairness, equality and kindness, and befriended people from all walks of life.

A brilliant student, Joyce graduated top of her class at the University of Buffalo in chemistry, and headed to the University of Chicago for graduate school, where she received a master's degree in chemistry. Joyce was in the PhD program, but her studies were interrupted when her father fell ill, and she helped her mother with his care until he passed. Returning to the University of Chicago, her friendship with Allan Zwickel blossomed into the love of her life, and in 1959 they decided to start their lives together, marrying on the same day that Al received his PhD! Al secured a teaching position at the University of Florida in Tallahassee, and off they went. However, disturbed by the segregation prevalent in the South in the late 1950s/early 1960s, they soon moved north to Massachusetts with a 7-month-old baby (Cassandra) and a large dog in tow, and Al became a professor of chemistry at Clark University. They had a second baby (Gwen) and found a colonial-era home which they restored and enjoyed for many years.

In 1974, Joyce and Al decided to move further north yet, where they ran a general store, The Village Green Market, in the center of New Haven, Vermont. Sadly, not long after this move, Al was diagnosed with throat cancer, and Joyce took care of him when he was ill, ran the store and raised their teenage daughters until he passed 3 years later at the age of 42. Our family is forever grateful for the deep kindness the people of New Haven, Vermont showed us during this very difficult time. Joyce made many friends in the community and continued to run the store for a number of years, before she eventually decided to sell the store and move to Middlebury, Vermont, where she became an office manager for a local woodworking company, Brown Novelty. She was always delighted to run into people she knew from her years in New Haven.

Joyce enjoyed hikes, craft shows, local theatre, music, and travel, but most of all spending time with her family in both Vermont and Connecticut. She was very close with the extended families that each of her daughters married into, and enjoyed many family celebrations and vacations with them. Joyce spent her final years near her family in Connecticut.

In the words of her granddaughter Bethany, and speaking for all of us: "A paragon of unflinching strength and fearless compassion, you showed me the beauty in being human, to care and to comfort, to fight for family in sun and in storm. Kindness is your legacy, and I hope to leave the same imprint on the world. Queen of our clan, blood of my blood, home of my heart, we followed you till the end. Love you, Grandma, forever and for always."

Resilient, flexible, and ever grateful for her life, Joyce rose to every challenge with strength, kindness and grace, finding joy in everything from a beautiful scene in nature to a good book, flowers in her garden, theatre with her daughters, playing with her grandchildren and after they grew up, her great-grandchildren, listening to a variety of music, art, and crafts. We will end this as we started - with her guiding spirit and fierce love for her family. Over the years, when Joyce would see herself do something her own mom would have done, she'd smile and say, "There you are, Mom." We will carry you in our hearts, look for those moments when we see you in us or your descendants, and smile and whisper, "There you are, Mom."

A special and heartfelt Thank You to the staff at Masonicare for their exceptional care and compassion over her final years.

Joyce is lovingly remembered by her daughter Cassandra and husband John Ciullo of East Haddam, CT; daughter Gwen Zwickel of Addison, VT; granddaughter Bethany Ciullo and great-grandchildren Sadie and Cody Sottini of Colchester, CT; granddaughter Brittany Ciullo and husband Canaan Gifford of Amherst, MA; and granddaughter Emily Tichonuk and fiancé Boris Shirman of Brooklyn, NY. She was predeceased by her beloved and dearly missed husband Allan Zwickel.

A private memorial service will be held by the family at a later date.

Joyce cared deeply about this world, the environment and people. Donations in Joyce's memory are appreciated at Vermont Land Trust, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, or the charity of your choice.