Obituary of Joyce Bataitis

After a courageous battle with dementia and metastatic bone cancer Joyce Bataitis, 92, of Jamestown, passed away peacefully Friday March 15, 2024, at Heritage Village Gerry, NY. Joyce was born August 3. 1931, in Niagara Falls, New York, the daughter of the late Jesse and Margaret Baum Anderson. Joyce was raised in Albany, New York area in the village of East Greenbush, New York where she grew up with a love of outdoor sports, and in particular horseback riding. Joyce was a graduate of Columbia High School in East Greenbush and then went on to attend Ithaca College, where she met the love of her life, George. They moved to Jamestown in 1955, and both loved this community deeply. After being a homemaker for many years, Joyce went to work for Days Stationary and enjoyed working with the public, and helping them solve their business supply problems, Joyce was very active in local politics and became one of the first female councilmen on the Jamestown City Council, where she enjoyed interacting with her constituents to help them solve their problems and make their lives better. Joyce was also very active in the early environmental movement and fought for change in improving air and water quality of Chautauqua County. Among her many interests was literacy. She worked as a literacy volunteer at the James Pendergast Library for many years, it gave her great satisfaction to help people learn to read, as reading was a lifelong love of hers. She also spent many hours volunteering at the Chautauqua County Humane Society as a dog walker, and as someone helping to socialize dogs so that they could be adopted to their forever homes. Joyce never met the dog she didn't like, and no dog who met Joyce failed to fall in love with her. Surviving is her son Mark (Roxanne Newman) Bataitis and her daughter Paula (Mark) Kirsch all living in the Jamestown area. Joyce is also survived by her two nieces Susan and Debbie, along with several grandnieces. Besides her parents she was preceded in death by her husband George P. Bataitis whom she married August 23, 1952, and who died October 11, 2014, and by her beloved brother James Anderson who died just this January. A service will be held at the convenience of the family. Visitation will not be observed. Joyce's family would also like to extend a sincere thank you to the wonderful people at Heritage Village Rehab and Skilled Nursing who took such exemplary care of her, particularly in the waning days of her life. We couldn't have asked for more compassionate attentive care. In keeping with Joyce's wishes, her body was willed to the University of Buffalo Medical School for further medical research. Thus Joyce, as well as George, continued to teach by helping to educate doctors of the next generation. Memorials may be made to The Chautauqua County Humane Society 2825 Strunk Rd, Jamestown, NY 14701