Joyce Ann Kelly-Reif

Joyce Ann Kelly-Reif was born August 23, 1955 in Jersey City, NJ to James Edmund Kelly and Kathleen Helen Vincent Kelly. Joyce grew up in a household with 5 other sisters and attended Saint John Vianney High School. Holmdel, NJ. Joyce was a lifelong admirer and steward of the environment. She studied Forest Biology at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse, NY (Class of 1977), where she met her husband Steven Kelly-Reif. They shared many happy memories together in college, including field biology coursework at the Flathead Lake Biological Station in Montana. After college, Joyce worked as a Bureau of Land Management soil surveyor in Wyoming, and as a soil science and environmental chemistry lab technician. Joyce and Steven moved to Sacramento, California together in 1982. Joyce graduated with a JD from McGeorge School of Law in 1990, and was a member of the State Bar of California through 2020. Joyce and Steven raised two daughters, Kaitlin Kelly-Reif (34) and Chelsea Kelly-Reif (29) in Carmichael, CA. As a family they enjoyed many trips to the mountains and coastlines of California, Oregon, and Washington. Her family greatly appreciated her dedication to her children, and fondly remember her warm smile and vivacious sense of humor. Throughout her life, Joyce enjoyed nature and loved her daily walk on the American River Parkway. She often walked with her husband and children, or with the Sacramento Walking Sticks, but most of the time you could find her walking with her goofy labrador retrievers, Cody and Zack. She also volunteered for the American Red Cross, Breathe California, and the Sacramento Tree Foundation. She was an avid gardener and enjoyed natural landscaping, and watching the bees and hummingbirds in her garden. On Sunday, June 26, 2022, Joyce passed away at home surrounded by family. Joyce is preceded in death by her parents, and her siblings Estelle Marie “Stelly” Kelly-Lopuch and infant James E Kelly. She will be deeply missed.