Josephine Joy Balady

Josephine Joy Balady, of Hawthorne, died peacefully at home on Tuesday, May 31 2022 at the age of 91, just 2 months after the passing of her beloved husband, John, They were married for 72 years.
She leaves her daughter, Sharon Bakay and her husband Gregory of Convent Station, and son, Gary Balady, MD and his wife Rosemary of Wellesley, MA. Joy was born in Waldwick in 1930 of Josephine and John Baeli, as the younger sister of her dear brother, Michael. She was raised in Paterson, but spent many weekends and summers at the home of her grandparents in Waldwick. She attended St Anthony School and St Joseph High School in Paterson, and graduated from Sherwood Business College in 1949. She put her newly acquired administrative assistant and secretarial skills to use for the next 60 years supporting her husband's furniture moving and floor cleaning businesses.
Joy was a loving and devoted wife, mother, grandmother to grandsons Stephen Balady, PhD and Andrew Balady, and great granddaughter, Julia, all of California. She was an aunt to 25 nieces and nephews.
Joy was bright, charming, sweet and talented. She was fluent in Italian and also spoke Spanish. She played the piano beautifully and often filled the room with her music and her warm smile. She was very proud of her family and of the home that she and her husband designed and built in Hawthorne more than 50 years ago. She loved going to lunch with friends, family gatherings, naming the movie stars in old movies, and vacation trips to Florida. She was beautiful inside and out and leaves a legacy of kindness and love to the countless lives that she has touched during her time here with us.
A funeral mass will be celebrated at 11:30am on Monday, June 6, 2022 at St. Anthony R.C. Church in Hawthorne, gathering at the church at 11:00am. Interment will follow at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Totowa.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the American Heart Association.