She’s the longest tenured employee at Temple Shalom, having worked here for more than 40 years. She started when members’ names were kept on Rolodex cards (three copies, please), and membership letters were typed up on a typewriter. It was her first job out of college, and she continues to learn on the job. That first Rosh Hashana, when someone called to ask if Temple had a shofar, she thought to herself, “we don’t have a van or a bus, why would we have our own chauffeur?”
Joy Addison started well before Temple had computers and fax machines, before voicemail, before the website, before the screens in the sanctuary or the TVs in the hallways. And well before cell phones, when people weren’t always connected. She has worked with seven executive directors, ten clergy members, and even more board presidents and executive committees. And every day, our beloved Joy greets you with a smile (and a hug, if you are lucky)! It’s her sweet voice on Temple’s voicemail.
Joy joined Temple Shalom shortly after graduating from Sam Houston State University with a degree in General Business Administration. “I knew I always wanted to do office work. I took “office classes” in high school and loved them. The better typists got to use the typewriter with the ball so I got to use one of those. I even went to State in a typing competition, representing my high school in Madisonville. I think I typed close to one hundred words per minute. But I didn’t win.”
She says she “rushed through college” – in six and a half years – working part-time and sometimes full-time while taking classes. During school, she worked in the admissions office and handled transcripts. “Everything was paper in those days,” Joy recalled. “I also worked part time typing letters for an attorney. Loved it.” So when an ad in the Dallas Times Herald described a position as an administrative secretary at Temple Shalom, she wanted an interview!
“I was born in Bryan but grew up in Madisonville, just a little north of Huntsville.” (Joy pronounces Huntsville more like Huntsvul.) She was living in the middle of the Pine Belt in east Texas and was highly allergic to pine pollen. “My allergies were getting worse year by year, and I knew I didn’t want to stay in Huntsville. A high school friend moved to Dallas while I was still at Sam Houston. So, when I graduated, I chose Dallas and moved in with her. And later, I lived with her and her husband!” Joy smiles.
Joy graduated in December and moved to Dallas in January during an ice storm. “I interviewed with an oil company, at Mary Kay, and then when I saw the ad for Temple Shalom…. well, I didn’t know what Temple Shalom could be. I didn’t grow up around any Jewish people – but I did have a major crush on Neil Diamond growing up,” Joy added.
Margaret Spieth was the executive secretary (they didn’t call women Executive Directors back then) and was a fabulous mentor to me. “I had my second interview with her, and by then I knew I wanted the job,” Joy remembered.
These was pre-computer days, so Joy kept her typing skills sharp by typing hundreds of Rolodex cards and just as many membership letters. “We used a mimeograph machine for copies. We had an Address-O-Graph to do envelopes. You had to type information onto wax paper on the stencil setting and slide it into a sleeve.” How things have changed! When Joy started, the wives were listed as “Mrs. Henry S. Jacobus.” Then it became “Mrs. Henry S. (Gloria) Jacobus,” and finally the women were known by their own names. That took decades!
Joy had a lot to learn. And there’s always something new. “Over time, I learned things like our Temple was Reform and not Reformed, and that Hebrew words can have different English spelling.” As for Jewish food, I love charoset, and kugel. “I had never had kugel before. Karen Thompson used to make me a birthday kugel — a sweet one.”
“Things I learned that blew me away included the differences among faiths – sometimes I found myself comparing Hasidic Jews to Church of Christ and Reform Jews to Methodists…just to keep it straight in my head. And now I remember to tell people, “It’s Reform, not Reformed.”
Joy had lived in Dallas only a couple months when she met a young man, Cecil Addison, at church services. She was smitten. “We married in November, and I hadn’t earned vacation time for a Honeymoon. Yet they let me take the time off, anyway.” When she had her first son, Josh, the Temple staff threw her a baby shower – one that baby Josh attended – because he was six weeks early. “I met a lot of wonderful people from Temple. When Josh was born, the nurses asked if we were Jewish because so many Jews came by to visit!” And those relationships have grown over the decades. “Harold Kaye delivered my second child, Matt. We joke about how a Temple member held baby Matt before me” Joy added.
Joy shared that so many members have a special place in her heart. When Josh went into the Marines, Temple members sent him care packages. When he came back for a visit, he spoke to the Temple preschool kids. When Josh and Liz got married, half the people at the wedding were Jewish!
“I got to know members better through the musicals we used to put on,” Joy professed. I didn’t realize Annette Besser was the rabbi’s wife. There was Susan Levy and Marlene Fischer….I was in my 20s; they were older than me. But it didn’t matter,” Joy recalls. “I miss the speaker series and the musicals — I performed in two of them, singing. I remember when Rabbi Roseman played Pharaoh and the guys dressed in drag who performed as dancers. We had a great time!”
Other things she remembers include the original gift shop. “Bella Garber ran the gift shop. It was the size of a walk-in closet and run by Sisterhood. I never saw a volunteer,” Joy recalls.
“I met Paddy and Barry (Epstein) during those days. They were very involved. Barry thought the office bookkeeper, Barbara Montgomery, and I should have a computer….to keep up with technology. So he purchased Temple’s first one. It sat on a table by Barbara’s desk. They told us we could do everything on the computer. But I wasn’t sold. Next we got a dot matrix printer. And finally, we were sent to computer school so we could all learn how to use it. I had a very hard time giving up my typewriter.”
Over the past 44 years, Joy has interacted with lots of staff members and hundreds, if not thousands, of members. There’s a good chance she has typed up your name – whether on the IBM Selectric back in the 80s or on her current computer today. And she thinks of her co-workers and so many Temple members as family.
Joy is an active member of Sojourn Church and is involved in two women’s groups. She describes Sojourn as warm and welcoming, very similar to Temple Shalom. “I love to meet new people, introduce myself and make them feel welcome,” she shares. She says that her boys grew up at their church as well as Temple Shalom.
Josh and Liz live in Bixby, Oklahoma, a suburb of Tulsa. He retired from the Marines and they have two sons, Joy’s grandsons Caleb (16) and JJ (9). She loves doting on them! Matt lives in Lakewood, Colorado, a suburb of Denver. He does instant replay for sporting events and travels a lot with the Denver Nuggets.
As for Joy…she’s seen it all! Asked if she could tell some “interesting” stories or reveal long-kept secrets, she shared that she’s heard others say that you can tell her anything, because she keeps a great secret. Asked if she could write a book about what she’s heard and what she’s seen, she replied, “I would never write a book.” Then she added, “I’m way past the ah-hah moments.”
Everyone loves Joy, and why not? Her name exudes… Joy. She loves her hugs. She loves her coffee with half and half or whipped cream. And she loves her job. “I’m not planning on ever leaving! I love coming to work. I love the people I work with and the congregants I interact with (well, most of them – you know who you are!).
Several years ago, Joy was honored by the Dallas Jewish Community Foundation as an “Unsung Hero” for her 40 years of loyal and loving service to Temple Shalom. It was a much deserved honor, as Joy reflects so beautifully on Temple Shalom. If you don’t know Joy, get to know her. You’ll be happy – even joyful – that you did!
9 Responses
It’s such a joy to know Joy! So happy to be one of the lucky ones to get my weekly hug 🙂
I was an office volunteer. I was at the baby shower for Matt.
I loved reading this story and seeing the photos. Such great memories. Joy is Awesome!
It was always such a”joy” whenever I called the temple and was answered by that sweet, friendly voice saying, “hi this is joy” and I would respond,
“well hi Joy this is joy”. It was like talking to my next door neighbor rather than an employee. She certainly represented the warmth of our Temple which I hope will last for a long long time.
I just love these blogs! I learn so much about things and people at Temple Shalom that I didn’t know before! I love seeing Joy every time I walk into the Temple office because I know she’ll always be smiling, eager to help, and eager to catch up on things in general! She’s fabulous!
What a wonderful post, especially for those of use who’ve been members less than a decade. We are so fortunate to have Joy.
So wonderful to see the blog about Joy. She deserves every accolade posted and more! A special person that I am privileged to know and to have worked with.
Joy has always been the one person that has been the glu that holds Temple Shalom together. Always a hug and a smile throughout her 40 years. I feel very lucky to have known her all these years. She is truly a beautiful person.
I met Joy when we became members of Temple Shalom but got to know her as a friend when I started doing volunteer work. She is the loveliest of ladies. We still stay in touch and I value her friendship very much. I hope to have the lunch date we’ve spoken about for years. Love you my friend 💕