Joy Adele Flack Hoffmann Neill Groenke passed peacefully at home early on August 19, 2024. She was born in Chicago to Sarah and John Hoffmann on April 8, 1930, and spent her entire life living up to the name Joy. Joy attended Amundsen High School in Chicago then graduated from Stephen’s College in Missouri. She met Seymour Neill on the shore path at Geneva Lake, WI, and they were married just prior to his military service during the Korean War. They enjoyed living in a trailer during his time in service at Fort Hood in Texas.
Following the war they returned to the Chicago area, moving to Lincolnwood near her parents. Son John was born in 1953, followed by Kimberly Joy in 1955 and Amy Joy in 1960. In 1962 they built their dream home in Lake Forest, IL. Joy became active in Church of the Holy Spirit and was a den mother for both Boy and Girl Scout Troops. She was also active in several local charities in Lake Forest, helping to organize events and fund raisers. She was always ready for a party, even organizing block parties with parades and elaborate costume parties that involved months of preparations.
Joy and Seymour enjoyed many years of boating and skiing trips with family and friends, including bare boating in the Caribbean and Lake Michigan, water skiing in Lake Geneva and snow skiing in Colorado. Their “Love 40” tennis group also had infamous trips and parties including fun lobster boils at Lake Forest Beach. Joy went back to work as Office Manager at Lake Forest School of Management, where she was able to watch the Chicago Bears practice on the side.
Following Seymour’s untimely death in 1981 Joy was set up on a blind date by her friends, Ted & Marty Groenke, and ended up eventually marrying Ted’s brother, Jack Groenke. She moved to Huntsville, AL and started a whole new life in the South. She made friends easily and quickly became active in the local chapter of PEO, Garden Clubs and Meals on Wheels, running the volunteer program for her church. She was the longest-standing PEO in Alabama, having been a member since 1952. She moved her mother to Huntsville, and they quickly started a poker club, which lasted nearly 35 years. Joy and Jack also enjoyed costume parties and fund-raising events at Valley Hill Country Club and elsewhere in Huntsville, and she had her second happy 25 year marriage with Jack.
Joy was preceded in death by her son, John Weldon Neill and is survived by her daughters, Amy Joy and Kimberly Joy Neill. She is also survived joyfully by cousins, Flack Logan and Carl Caruthers; numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren through marriages and extended family.
Donations can be made to Meals on Wheels in lieu of flowers and gifts.
