Sarah Joyce Friedmann Young

Sarah Joyce Friedmann Young
1929-2018

Sarah Joyce Friedmann Young, affectionately known as Joycie, was born in Brownsville, Texas, on June 27, 1929, to her beloved parents Sarah Champion and Ralph John Friedmann.

The second of eight siblings, Joyce graduated from Incarnate Word Academy in 1945, and Texas Southmost College, in 1947.  Renowned for her industriousness, (her children were never bored), Joyce was working at Stanolind Oil and Gas in Brownsville, when she met John Douglas Young in January 1950. Joyce and Doug wed in October 1950, and began 67 1/2 years of devoted married life during which Joyce would call numerous places home, among them: Augusta, Ga.; Long Branch, N.J.; Lake Jackson, Austin and Houston, Texas; Mexico City; Whittier, Calif.; Ponce; Puerto Rico; Baton Rouge, La.; and ultimately, Longboat Key, Fla., where she and Doug happily settled in 1997.

“Mom, Nana, Joycie, Dolly, Chulita….you are missed.”

Joyce was an extraordinary “force of nature.” She loved life, friends, laughter, music, dancing, nature, and most all, her family. Joyce adored her family. She will be remembered for her kindness, her sense of fun, her compassion, her laughter, her faith and her love of people. Always outgoing, even in later days of dementia, Joycie sparkled: Everyone was “beautiful,” and everyone received her enthusiastic smiles.

A dedicated homemaker to her husband and three children, Joyce was an avid “do-er,” active in real estate, women’s clubs and church charities, practicing Tai Chi in her 70s, volunteering whenever possible, and always eager to help others and to instill that ethic in her family.

Joyce passed peacefully Feb. 15, and is survived and loved by her husband, Doug, of Longboat Key; her children, J. Douglas Young, Jr., Bowie, Md., Kevin C. Young, Fair Haven, N.J., Sarah Thun-Hohenstein, London, U.K.; their spouses, Perlita Young, Martha Wooding Young and Christian Thun-Hohenstein, 12 grandchildren; five great-grandchildren; and five siblings: Cleta Howell, N.C., Marie Cottrell, Rumson, N.J., Robert J. Friedmann, Englewood, Fla., Ray Friedmann, Houston, Texas; and Jermaine Holden, Sarasota, Fla., as well as numerous nieces and nephews. 

Mom, Nana, Joycie, Dolly, Chulita….you are missed.