Joyce (Joy) Johns Santos died after a year long struggle with dementia on July 23, 2025 with family at her side. 

Joy was born in Bridgeport CT in 1947. She grew up with her family in Connecticut and had one child in 1972. In 1976 she made a bold decision and drove across country with her young daughter settling in Santa Cruz, CA. There she met her husband of 35 years, John J. Santos. In 1999 the couple moved to Eagle River, Alaska to be closer to their daughter, son in law and granddaughters. Joy & John lived together in Eagle River Alaska for over 20 years. John passed away in 2019 and Joy decided to follow her daughter down to Chehalis WA in 2021 shortly after his passing. 

Joy and John had rich lives full of friends and community in both Santa Cruz California and Eagle River Alaska. Joy did a lot of volunteer work and was very involved in AA programs throughout South Central Alaska. While Joy’s time in Washington was brief she loved the Chehalis area and enjoyed meeting new people & exploring new towns with her family. Joy was a fun and loving grandmother and was very involved in her grand daughter’s lives. Joy was extremely independent and while the dementia was a huge challenge she self advocated to live alone for as long as possible. She loved her tiny house on her daughter’s property and had wonderful moments of watching the birds & deer out her windows. Joy loved nature, scrabble, shopping, cooking & she was an avid reader of mystery novels. 

Joy will be greatly missed by many including her granddaughters Jenna Gawrys & Allison Gawrys; daughter Ingrid Samantha Gawrys and son in law Robert Gawrys as well as friends & other loved ones. 

Joy’s family will be honoring her privately without a service but donations can be made in her honor to Assured Hospice in Centralia WA as they were instrumental in joys final months of care. 

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