Joyce (London) Mohamoud

Joyce London Mohamoud, 74, died on November 29, 2021 in Plainsboro, NJ after a long battle with cancer. She was born in Ethel, AR and raised in Pine Bluff, AR, the eldest of four siblings. After graduating high school with honors, she attended the University of Kansas, Lawrence and became a lifelong Jayhawk supporter. She earned a BA in Psychology and an MA in Human Development and Family Life. In Kansas, she met and married her husband, Ahmed Mohamoud.

Joyce began her career training teachers in states and reservations across the Midwest and Southwest parts of the country. Her research contributed to revisions in the curriculum of the national Head Start Program. She became a Principal Investigator for an Illinois Department of Children and Family Services project for parents. In 1974, she was recruited to New Jersey by UMDNJ to develop services for identified parents of abused and neglected children. This work led to the establishment of Parents Anonymous, a program aimed at the prevention of child abuse and neglect through community-based, professionally facilitated self-help support groups. She dedicated herself to program development, organizing and expanding the organization across the country, becoming President of National Parents Anonymous in 1980. She served as a member of the U.S. Advisory Board on Child Abuse and Neglect and the New Jersey Governor’s Task Force on Child Abuse and Neglect, helping to shape national and state policies towards the prevention of child abuse. In recent years, she was an advisor for other non-profit organizations and also served as a substitute teacher in Middlesex and Mercer Counties. She dedicated herself to helping children and families for over forty years.

She lived well and surrounded herself with good friends. She was an avid reader as a child, which fueled her curiosity about the larger world. She traveled nationally and internationally for work and adventure. She found joy in gardening, sewing and cooking for friends and family. Her faith and spirituality were essential parts of her life. She was involved in community groups in her neighborhood and was an active member of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Princeton.

She was predeceased by her parents, Alice and Emmett London, her brother, Thomas London, and her daughter, Leilah Habiba Mohamoud. Survivors include a son, a daughter, two sisters, a grandson, three great grandchildren, a niece and nephew, several cousins, and many friends.

The following quote was posted by her desk: “Love life. Engage in it. Give it all you’ve got. Love it with a passion because life truly does give back, many times over, what you put into it” Maya Angelou. We will miss her dearly.

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