Joyce Clarissa McElhinney Cady

Joyce Clarissa McElhinney Cady died April 1, 2026 in Los Alamos, New Mexico at age 93. She was born to Denis Francis McElhinney and Clarissa Valentine McElhinney on Jan 1, 1933 in Alameda, California. Joyce was the New Years Baby for the San Francisco Bay Area. Joyce is preceded in death by her parents, sister Helen Margaret McElhinney and brother Frank Dennis McElhinney. She is survived by her husband Howard Hamilton Cady and children John Hamilton Cady, Thomas Francis Cady, Carol Therese Cady, Carl McElhinney Cady and their families. 

Joyce grew up in Alameda and decided on a career as an elementary teacher while in high school. She graduated from San Francisco State with a degree in primary education and started teaching a 35 student third grade class in Alameda while also taking evening classes at UC Berkeley. That left about 40 minutes to play tennis on the Berkeley tennis courts where she met her future husband. She married Howard Cady in Alameda on June 22, 1957, the same month he graduated with a PhD in Chemistry from UC Berkeley. They moved immediately to Los Alamos, New Mexico for his fist (and last) job at Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory. Joyce applied for a teaching position with Los Alamos Public Schools and was hired immediately for a heavenly job as a third grade teacher with only 22 well-behaved students. Joyce retired as a teacher with the arrival of her first child and became a mother and family educator for her four children. Through the years she was also involved in the Los Alamos Garden Club, Christian Concern Committee and many other activities. 

Family and friends are encouraged to attend a graveside burial for Joyce on Thursday, April 9, 2026 at 1 pm at Guaje Pines Cemetery in Los Alamos, New Mexico.