Joyce Michiyo Noe, wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother passed away peacefully on May 7, 2022 at the age of 82. She spent much of her life dedicated to education at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa, School of Architecture.Joyce was born in Honolulu on April 15, 1940, to Jitsuhei & Mitsue Fujimoto. She graduated from Roosevelt High School in 1958 then studied Electrical Engineering at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa for two years, before transferring to the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana School of Architecture and graduating with a BArch in 1965.
While in Illinois, she met and married Leon Joseph Noe in 1965 and moved back to Honolulu with him in 1968. In 1976 they launched Noe & Noe Architects and started private practice together.
Joyce joined the faculty of the School of Architecture at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa in 1982 and spent 38 years teaching there. She received tenure in 1986, served as Associate Dean and Graduate Chair from 2001 to 2007, and retired in 2019.
In 1998 Joyce studied at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, receiving a Master's in Design Studies, with distinction. She was also elected as a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects (FAIA) in 2006.
As an architect and educator, Joyce's aspiration was to weave practice into education and education into practice to resolve real-life community and environmental dilemmas through research and creative design processes. With this vision, she helped to create and launch the DArch program at the UHM SOA in 1998 which integrates coursework with professional office practice and is the only Doctor of Architecture degree accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting Board. This unique program provides an invaluable connection for UHM SOA students to the architecture communities in Hawaii, the mainland, Asia and the Pacific.
Joyce had an impact on so many with her passion for her profession, her trailblazing spirit, and her devotion to her UHM SOA students and their careers. She will be missed but remains in our hearts.
Joyce is preceded in death by her sister, Florence Kinoshita, brother-in-law, Tamio Otsu and sister-in-law, Joy Fujimoto. She is survived by her loving husband, Leon; sister, Betsy Otsu, brothers, Martin (Mabel) Fujimoto, and Reynold Fujimoto, brother-in-law Takeshi Kinoshita; children, Julia Noe, Cathy (Dickson) Terashita, David Noe; 3 grandchildren, Bronson (Mia) Peralta, Dylan (Jess) Peralta and Kelsy Peralta (Travis Uyeno); and 6 great-grand- children, Aron, Olivia, Dayten, Ryder, Madison and Maddex.
A Celebration of Life Service will be held on Saturday, July 30, 2022 at Nu'uanu Memorial Park & Mortuary. Visitation from 3pm with service at 4pm. Aloha attire. Our family kindly requests face masks be worn.
Arrangements Provided By:
Nuuanu Memorial Park & Mortuary LLC
