Joyce B. LaPoint

HUDSON FALLS- , 82, died peacefully Friday, April 25, 2014, at her Martindale Avenue home.    Born on May 25, 1931, in Hudson Falls, she was the daughter   of the late George Arthur and Alberta (Hendrix) Blake.

After graduating from Hudson Falls High School in 1948, Joyce started work, as a typist, at the Washington County Motor Vehicle Bureau.    Then, in 1956, she moved over to the County Clerk’s Office, and commenced working as a stenographer with Hall Niemer,  Deputy County Clerk.   In 1961, she resigned from her position with the County to work     with Wilbur “Pete” Williams in the private sector, searching property titles and preparing abstracts from them, eventually starting her own business, Joyce B. LaPoint, Abstracts of Title.    A fixture for decades in her small, corner office overlooking the county Records Room, Joyce was known for both the speed and the accuracy of her work.   She retired in 2001.

Joyce enjoyed her home, her friends, big cars, her pool,  scrabble, watching golf on television (especially Tiger Woods),  dachshunds (the companionship of her fourth,  Jackie, was a great joy and comfort to her) and, especially, her family, by whom she is, and will be, greatly missed.

In addition to her parents, Joyce was predeceased by her first husband, John J. Carella, and her second husband, Robert J. LaPoint; a brother, Raymond A. Blake; and a sister-in-law, Patricia (Richard) Blake.

Survivors include her sons, David B. Carella and his wife, Tigest, of Fredricksburg, Virginia, and Richard A. Carella, of Hudson Falls; her brother, Richard R. Blake, of Fort Edward; her step-daughter, Jeanne Wood, of Argyle; her two step-sons, Robert LaPoint, of Jacksonville, Florida and Dan LaPoint and his wife, Debbie, of Argyle; her grandchildren, James Carella and his wife, Holly, of Clarksville, Moriah Ladd and her husband, David, of Fort  Ann, Joseph Carella and his wife, Brandie, of Cincinnati, Ohio, Jonathan Carella and his wife, Rebecca, of Fort Edward and Stephen and Michael Carella, of Fredericksburg, Virginia; a daughter-in-law, Michaelene Carella, of Fort  Edward; her niece, Christine Latham and her husband, Michael, of Queensbury; her nephews, Scott Blake and his wife, Tammi, of South Glens Falls, Kevin Blake and his wife, Valerie, of Canaan, New Hampshire and Keith Blake and his wife, Heidi, of Raleigh, North Carolina; her step-nephew, David Connors and his wife, Jennifer, of Selkirk; her step-niece, Shannon Morock and her husband, Jeff, of Raleigh, North Carolina; eight great-grandchildren; and several great-nieces, great-nephews and cousins.

A private ceremony was held for Joyce on April 29, 2014, at Carleton Funeral Home, Inc., in Hudson Falls.   “Amazing Grace,” a hymn she requested be played, was sung for her by her grandsons, James and Joseph Carella.

Interment followed at Sandy Hill Union Cemetery, Fort Edward.