Joyce Boerger Hill

Joyce Boerger Hill passed away peacefully on Monday, March 6, 2023, at the age of ninety-five, after a long struggle with both vascular dementia and Parkinson’s disease.

She was born on February 23, 1928 to Walter and Florence Boerger, in Geneva, IL. Her father was a Chicago attorney, and her mother was a homemaker who later became a math teacher. Joyce was the third of their four daughters. She grew up in the suburb of West Chicago and later moved into the city of Chicago as a teenager.

Joyce almost died as a fourteen-year-old when she contracted diphtheria, one of only two confirmed cases in Chicago that year and the only survivor. Just two years later, she passed the difficult entrance exam for the University of Chicago at the age of sixteen, after only completing two years of high school.

Joyce loved the University of Chicago, especially the social life, and graduated with her Bachelor of Arts degree in Liberal Arts in 1948 at only twenty years of age. She then worked at various secretarial jobs in Chicago for several years. Her “best job ever” was during the summer of 1950 when she worked for the “Railroad Fair”, a Chicago pageant with four performances per day, seven days a week. An accomplished equestrian, she won a role as one of two sidesaddle riders in the show.

Joyce moved to Florida in the early 1950’s when her older sister, Lois, and her husband Chuck bought the Gateway Motel in Fort Lauderdale and needed someone to work in the front office. In 1956, a sign salesman by the name of David Hill stopped by the motel and they were married in December of that year. Tragically, he died in a car accident a short time later while she was in the early stages of pregnancy with her only child, Nancy. She never remarried.

Joyce eventually earned a Masters degree in Education from Florida Atlantic University in 1969. She taught elementary school for two years in Florida, then moved back to Illinois where she taught all elementary grade levels for the next twenty-two years at Edgewood Elementary School in Woodbridge, Illinois.

She spent most of her years in Illinois living next door to her younger sister, Nancy, and brother-in-law, Harold, who owned a riding academy with two houses on the property. When she was not working, Joyce was busy either riding horses or training her German Shorthair Pointer, Joseph, for obedience trial competitions. An avid animal lover her entire life, she was never without a dog and at least one cat in her home.

She retired from teaching in 1993 and moved back to Florida again in 1994. She enjoyed volunteering at her grandsons’ school, playing Bridge, travelling frequently and was a most devoted animal lover. She owned three German Shorthair Pointers (sequentially) and again attempted obedience training and tracking with them. She was an active volunteer at St. Mark’s church as a “counter” of the offering money, the Alter Guild, E.C.W., delivering alter flowers to Holy Cross and the “XYZ” group for many years. When her grandson Kevin was born in 1994, Joyce was his full-time caregiver while his parents worked during the day. When he went to school, she was the volunteer in his classroom. She took each one of her three grandsons on a special trip to Alaska when they finished eighth grade (Bryan and Brad) or fifth grade (Kevin.) She never missed one of their academic or sporting events and was at each one’s graduation from pre-school, high school and college.

Joyce was a highly intelligent, kind and generous woman. She had an exceptionally close bond with all three of her sisters. During her last years, her sister Nancy moved into Joyce’s Assisted Living apartment for awhile, along with her collie dog and cat. Both sisters were struggling with dementia, but their bond was stronger than ever. Joyce was the last survivor of her family of origin.

Joyce is survived by her daughter, Nancy and son-in-law Scott of Fort Lauderdale, grandsons Bryan (Corpus Christi, TX), Bradley (Coral Springs, FL) and Kevin (Baltimore, MD), and great-grandson Colton (Loxahatchee, FL.) She is also survived by three nephews, David Zerbst (Santa Fe, NM), Stephen Zerbst (Bellevue, WA) and Peter Zerbst (Palm Springs, CA) and one niece, Rebecca (John) Schaar of Chesapeake, VA and their three children, Aidan, Hannah and Lynnea.

She is predeceased by her parents and all three sisters and their spouses: Jean (John) Amber of Marengo, IL, Lois (Chuck) Zerbst of Fort Lauderdale, FL and Nancy (Harold) Hammarlund of Marengo, IL.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to: Everglades Angels Dog Rescue www.EvergladesAngelsDogRescue.org Ph. (800) 511-DOGS.