My name is Danielle. I’m the daughter of the spitfire most of you knew as Joy Johnson. Last night, my mom quickly passed among her loved ones at home. Her decline literally happened overnight and caught us off guard.
I joked about mom, called her my cockroach. It sounds insulting at first, but if you knew my mom, you’d know she laughed at it with that hearty laugh of hers.
Over the past few years we almost lost her 4 times. And each time she fought back with the bravery of any soldier. Overcoming the odds every time. From 11 weeks fighting Covid to Stage 5 Renal failure and being put on dialysis after making it thru ICU, just to fight her way OFF dialysis which is practically unheard of! So I joked, nothing was taking this lady out. This time tho, it was time to hang up her battle axe. Her fight was over. She gave this world hell, kept us on our toes, pushed us to never give up.
She was the strongest woman I’ve ever known. Besides myself, cuz I got it from my mama.
most of you know her as Mama Joy. Accepting my brother’s and my friends as her own. Always opening her door to whomever needed refuge.
a woman who fought so many battles in her own life, she used it to teach us the same value. Never give up.
And she never did. But this time, we had to tell her it was okay to rest now. She fought so long and so hard her whole life that she deserved to have peace.
Joy was an avid animal lover. It was our dream to move to the Blue Ridge mountains and open a rescue farm. Part of this fundraiser will also go towards helping myself, my brother, and her 5 grandchildren fulfill her final wishes and take her ashes (she was insistent on being cremated and threatened to haunt me for the rest of my life if I “dared to put her in the ground” - that’s mom for ya) up to our beloved North Carolina where we will hike to the top of Leatherwood Falls and release most of them at the top of the falls to be carried the whole way thru.
She was a former president of the Florida West Coast Avian Society. She founded the Annual FWCAS Bird Fair which quickly became one of the largest avian fairs and despite her leaving many years ago, still is. At one point she had bred and raised over 300 feathered friends at our home, at once!
Joy worked for a decade at The Humane Society of Sarasota County where she became a voice for the voiceless, overseeing hundreds and hundreds of adoptions. She instilled this love for rescuing animals in myself and her granddaughters! She inspired her 10yr old granddaughter to be a vet when she grows up!
Many of you even met her thru her crazy love for ferrets! I know she’s playing with her beloved Stinkerbell right now.
Mom was a 76yr resident of Sarasota. Her parents built 2 of the very first motels ever on Lido Beach. Her parents then went on to open and run Sarasota’s leading Lighting and Fan stores for decades of which she ran the Venice Location for many years.
She was also a published author of a tiny little local publication for Siesta Key over 50 years ago. She had a portrait drawn of her by a famous local artist back in the 70’s.
Joy lived a life full of love and fire and laughter and tears.
I will be organizing a small mass for her to honor her Catholic beliefs and will update this page with the date once selected.
Any donation you can make to help us out would be forever appreciated we thank you from the bottoms of our hearts for being in our mom’s life. My brother and I have been going thru our own medical traumas (I almost died a couple months ago) and have been quite financially impacted by these and just do not have the funds to cover these costs, as mom did not have any life insurance. Anything you can spare is deeply appreciated.
Please feel free to reach out to me as we will always welcome your words of love and encouragement.