Joy Renee Taylor lived up to her name and made life a joy for anyone that met her. She was born May 24, 1963 in Lincoln, Nebraska to The Honorable Warren K. Urbom and Joyce Urbom and passed away on September 9, 2020 at her home in Windermere, Florida surrounded by her children, sisters and husband. Joy lived in Lincoln, Nebraska through college. She graduated from Nebraska Wesleyan where she was a member of the Willard sorority, a staff member in both the Governor’s Office as well as the Nebraska Legislature and was also an accomplished pianist. She moved to St. Louis, Missouri in 1985 and graduated from Washington University School of Law in 1988. She was a partner in the St. Louis law firm of Evans and Dixon where she worked in the civil litigation group on civil rights and constitutional cases. She was of-counsel with the Greenfelder firm where she worked on employment cases when she retired in 2008 to care for her mom and her children.
While practicing law, Joy met her husband, Tony, and they had three children: Georgi, Tommie and Joseph. Her family and her dog, Hemi, were her focus and she enjoyed being with them most of all. The family lived in Eureka, Missouri and moved to Florida in 2010. She had a remarkable intellect and cutting sense of humor. Along the way, her email signature always turned heads as she adopted various “titles” such as Chief Activity Officer, Chief Relocation Officer and Chief of Homeland Activity. She was a constant volunteer and cheerful spectator at her children’s activities. Joy was always fascinated with words and language and was a volunteer instructor with the Orlando Adult Literacy League. Other than her children, what made her most happy were home projects, scrapbooking, flowers and gardening. She had a unique creative eye for design, decoration and artistic aesthetic. Above all, she always saw the good things in the world and in people.
Joy is survived by her husband, Tony; her three children, Georgi, Tommie and Joseph; and three siblings: Kim Rager of Chicago, Illinois; Randall Urbom of Scottsdale, Arizona and Allison Raich of Windermere, Florida.
Donations in Joy’s memory may be made to the Orlando Adult Literacy League or the The Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center at Duke University.
Please join funeral service via live stream at 10:30 am on Wednesday, September 16, 2020 at
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