Joan Gormly Decker

Our beloved mother, Joan Gormly Decker, 89, passed away peacefully on March 13, 2024, after a long goodbye from Alzheimer’s while at her Memory Care home, Phoenix Assisted Living in Cary, North Carolina. She was born on September 29, 1934, in Newark, NJ, the oldest child of the late John and Margaret Gormly.

Pastor Tracy Bell will preside over a private Celebration of Life on Sunday, April 7, 2024, in Raleigh, North Carolina. Tex Culton will preside over a private Celebration of Life on July 7, 2024, in Frenchtown, New Jersey.

Joan is survived by her four daughters, Shari Lee O’Neill, Donna Decker McCollum, Kelly Decker Pich, and Traci Decker Todd; four sons-in-law, Michael O’Neill, Thomas McCollum, William Pich, and Brandon Todd; five grandchildren, Anthony Johnson Jr., Edwin Charles Johnson, Christina Dunn, Logan Decker Todd, and Cameron Daniel Todd; and four great-grandchildren, Justin Watson, Riley Johnson, Oliver Dunn, and Elliott Dunn and two great-great-grandchildren Evander Watson and Cove Watson.

She graduated from Frenchtown High School in 1952 as an accomplished student-athlete and lettered in basketball, softball, and hockey. Her high school yearbook prophecy indicated she would be in the WNBL and marry her high school steady. One of those predictions came true, and in 1953, she married the love of her life, the late Edwin “Ed” Charles Decker, and they lived in Barbertown and then Frenchtown, New Jersey. She worked for the Hunterdon County National Bank before starting their family in 1959. After that, she and Ed moved to Sarasota, Florida, where she worked in Human Resources at Sarasota Memorial Hospital. In 1979, they returned to Frenchtown, New Jersey, where she had a successful career in Human Resources and retired from Ortho Pharmaceutical in 1994. The final move would be to Raleigh, North Carolina, in 1994, where in 1995, she and Ed started their own business, “Spice Up Your Life.” For 23 years, she was known as the “Spice Lady” and left her footprint on many hearts and kitchens nationwide.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you consider helping us fight this devastating disease of Alzheimer's by donating to the “AFA” Alzheimer's Foundation of America https://alzfdn.org.