Joyce Carol Esbensen (née Anderson) passed peacefully on Friday, September 24. She had been suffering from Parkinson’s Disease for several years. Joyce was born a die-hard Cub fan in Chicago, IL on March 9, 1932. She graduated from the University of Colorado, Boulder with a BA in Education in 1954, and earned her Master of Arts degree from the University of Redlands in 1964.
Joyce was fiercely proud of and devoted to her family, profession, and friends, and the students she taught during her long teaching career – junior high school in Denver, CO and Riverside, CA and more than 20 years teaching English atFallbrook Union High School. She spent most of her tenure at FUHS as the English Department Chair. Outside the classroom she spent innumerable hours inspiring, guiding and mentoring students in her roles as the Girls’ Swim Team coach, Academic Team coach, Decathlon Team coach and as the Faculty Advisor of the school’s literary magazine, KOPA. Joyce was a dedicated member of the Fallbrook community. There was almost nowhere she went in town or the surrounding area where she didn’t come across a former student whose life she had impacted. Not only as a teacher, but also as a member of the Fallbrook American Association of University Women, she was a steadfast advocate for women.
She was passionate about F. Scott Fitzgerald & The Great Gatsby, education, correct grammar, and her rose garden. Over her life, she traveled the world with family and friends, instilling her curiosity in her 8 grandchildren by taking each of them on a special trip. She inspired, mentored, praised and was respected by those who knew her. She was lucky to live a long enough life to watch her beloved Cubbies finally win the World Series.
Celebration of Life
October 16 – 1:00 p.m.
Temecula Creek Inn – The Meadows venue, outside
44501 Rainbow Canyon Road, Temecula
RSVP to laurenandjoyce@gmail.com
Joyce is survived by her sister Linda Loran, son Mark Esbensen of Fallbrook, daughter and son-law Kristen & Bob Wagner of Colleyville, TX, and daughter and son-in-law Lauren & Matt Greenberg of Bradenton, FL, 8 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.
