Whether ambling through a castle in Europe or researching her family’s past or writing about her own childhood years, Joyce Furlong immersed herself in history. It was her element. She studied it; she collected bits of it; she taught it.
For 25 years she instructed classes in social studies, primarily world history, at Lithonia High School.
“The first year my mother taught at Lithonia --1968 -- was the first year it was integrated,” said her son, Thomas Furlong of Marietta. “She always felt that she helped smooth that transition and also Lithonia High’s transformation from a small rural school to a bustling suburban institution.”
Among her fellow teachers, Mrs. Furlong had a reputation for being especially knowledgeable about her subject and for having a splendid rapport with her students. “Many of them remained friendly with her long after they had completed her class,” said Nina Chafin of McDonough, who taught English at Lithonia High.
Joyce Statham Furlong, 77, of Decatur, died en route to the hospital Tuesday from complications of Alzheimer’s disease. Graveside services will be at 1 p.m. at Morningside Cemetery in Rochelle, Ga. In lieu of flowers, the family requests contributions to the Alzheimer’s Association, 1925 Century Boulevard NE, Atlanta GA 30345. Arrangements are being handled by A.S. Turner and Sons, Decatur.
Born in Rochelle in 1932, she moved with her family eight years later to Atlanta. She was graduated from Brown High School and Auburn University, the first member of her family to finish college.
Working for General Cable Corp., she met Thomas A. Furlong, and the two were wed in 1954. Several years later, he was promoted, necessitating the Furlong family’s move to North Carolina. In 1961, he was diagnosed with cancer, and he died three months later, leaving Mrs. Furlong with two children, Thomas, 3, and Phyllis, 1.
“After Tom died, Joyce vowed she would never remarry,” said her sister, Phyllis Moore of Marietta. “In fact, she never even dated -- because she didn’t want someone new telling her how to raise her children. She was devoted to her kids.”
Mrs. Furlong moved back to Atlanta with her children and prepared herself for a teaching career, earning a master’s degree with honors at Georgia State University.
Mrs. Furlong and her sister, Mrs. Moore, took several trips abroad together, touring Britain, France, Belgium and the Netherlands and visiting every castle they could, including Windsor, Versailles and Fontainebleau. “Joyce was like an expert guide,” Mrs. Moore said. “She seemed to know everything about European history – even the dirt.”
History always fascinated Nrs. Furlong, her sister said. “Even as a girl, Joyce would sit for hours with our maternal grandmother, Martha Crowe Jordan, listening to her stories about our relatives from generations past. “
Years later, the two sisters often would go to the Georgia Archives building and comb through its records, looking for bits of family history. “Joyce compiled all we found into an interesting genealogy of both sides of our family,” Mrs. Moore said.
After Mrs. Furlong retired, she busied herself writing stories about growing up in Atlanta during the 1940s. “She didn’t have them published, but we have them recorded online. It was her hope that some future historian or writer would find them useful in gathering background information about that point in time,” said her daughter, Phyllis Furlong of Decatur.
Survivors include another sister, Martha Donehoo of Good Hope, Ga.
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