Joy Kristina Kolehmainen Reynolds

May 31, 1944 - June 16, 2019

Joy Kristina Kolehmainen Reynolds died suddenly and unexpectedly on June 16, 2019. She leaves behind her sister Kay A. Kingsley (James), her brother Jan Kolehmainen (Kay); nieces, Lauren Snyder (Micah), Tara Billiter (Dave), Lynn Green (Seth); nephew Mark Kolehmainen (Ishughun) and sister-in-law Georgia Shultz. She embraced the role of Great Auntie Joy to great nieces, Morgan Billiter, Peyton Billiter, Aila Kolehmainen and great nephews, Brody Billiter, Wesley Snyder, Mason Kolehmainen and Micah Kolehmainen. She is also survived by her Serbian "adopted grandson" Drasko Raicevic and friend and former husband Kerry Reynolds.

Joy was born on May 31, 1944, in Tiffin, Ohio, to John and Astrid Kolehmainen. She graduated from Columbian High School in 1962 as the Valedictorian and from Swarthmore College in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, in 1966 with honors. Her major was Political Science; she was so talented that the department chair recommended her for a position in the U.S. Department of Labor in Washington that had previously been held by a lawyer.

Joy served as an Industrial Relations Specialist with the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Management Relations for 30 years, retiring in 1996. She spent a year in Michigan as the Executive Secretary to the Chairman of the Michigan Public Service Commission. She continued to be active professionally after her retirement, contributing articles to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Monthly Labor Review and participating in national organizations in the field of labor-management relations. Her friends delighted in seeing her short-but-elegant letters, on subjects ranging from English usage to sports, published periodically in the "Letters to the Editor" section of The Washington Post.

She had a dry wit, inherited from her father, that confounded some and entertained many. Her curiosity about others and respect for the lives of even those she did not know was reflected in her abiding interest in reading obituaries. It is difficult to know whether this one would meet her high standards. She was fluent in Finnish, the language of both sets of her grandparents who immigrated in the late 1800s from Finland to Northern Minnesota. She spent summers growing up and much of each summer thereafter, particularly after retirement, in the remote woods by Salo Lake, where she had many dear friends and where her ashes will be scattered at a celebration of life at a future date.

She was a gourmet chef who could cook anything and could answer any imaginable cooking question. Her sister will be reduced to a future of "googling" an answer to particularly thorny culinary conundrums. She loved to share both her recipes and the finished dish with neighbors and friends. She created jewelry as a hobby and would sell it at summer markets at the lake.

She loved movies and opera. She had a love of international travel making trips to Spain, Egypt, India, Russia, Latin America, the Caribbean, the Scandinavian countries and Central and Eastern Europe. She loved river cruises, and on the date of her death was planning her next one.

Joy's name reflected her outlook on life. She found joy in the simple things, in her generosity toward others with time, interest and gifts, and in truly making the effort to genuinely know people. She was a voracious reader who resisted Kindle reading until her sister convinced her it didn't mean she had to give up "real" books after which she was hooked. She valued nature, love and laughter, not possessions, except for books which were her passion, and which she freely shared.

She was a loyal and loving sister, sister-in-law, aunt and friend. She knew how to help yet balanced her involvement with boundaries and respect for the privacy of others. Her heartfelt acceptance of those she loved made others feel worthy and confident even in difficult times. Her giving and philanthropic nature are reflected by her wish that she be a tissue donor at her death and that any donations in her memory be made to as follows:

• Doctors Without Borders, 333 7th Avenue, 2nd Floor, New York, New York 10001;
• WAMU 88.5-American University Radio (NPR), 4401 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington D.C. 20008,
• Brimson Area Volunteer Fire Department (BAVFD), 3127 Highway 44, Brimson, Minnesota 55602 or Petrell Hall, Clerk, Jane Horton, P. O. Box 1, Brimson, Minnesota 55602 (check payable to Fairbanks Twp.).

Published in The Washington Post on June 27, 2019