Recreation, Schools Key Ingredients to Successful Braintree, Joyce Says

Henry Joyce's 39 years in the financial industry have served him well as a member of the Braintree , where he must balance the needs of residents, businesses and the community as a whole.

The first-term councilor for district four expressed pride at the new government's ability to accomplish goals in a recent interview, looking back on last year and anticipating the rest of 2011. Joyce said he looks forward to seeing Braintree "turn the corner," especially in the areas of education and recreation, though he remains undecided on running for re-election in the fall.

"I don't consider myself a true politician," Joyce said. "I'm really just trying to get things done."

Joyce was born in Roxbury, where he saw his 9-year-old brother grazed by a bullet when he was just three. A relative's passing allowed his family to move to Everett. There he was heavily involved with the CYO, attending dances, roller skating and going to ice cream socials. Joyce also developed a love of pick-up games. He played baseball, whiffle ball, Red Rover, dodgeball – anything that the neighborhood kids could organize.

"The city just had everything to offer," he said.

After high school, Joyce spent two years at Pensacola Junior College in Florida before volunteering for the Army and heading to Vietnam. His 13 months there imbued in him a sense of calm, of taking things as they come. "I'm just lucky," he said. "I'm just happy."

And Joyce appears most happy when talking baseball. Thirty years ago, after he moved to Braintree with his wife Mary, Joyce became involved with the , and also with Babe Ruth when his kids began playing T-ball. He was a treasurer for the league and then joined the parks commission, serving for nine years and having "a lot of fun" working with people around town to fix problems small and large.

That same idea has Joyce to the council, and he believes it has paid off, helping get the after several decades while including improvements to , helping jump-start Braintree Beautification Day four years ago, and serving in a more streamlined government.

"Are we better off than we were three and a half years ago?" he said. "A lot better off, despite the economy."

Joyce's family is particularly invested in , and he believes Braintree should expand the system's physical footprint as the town grows, which Mayor Joseph Sullivan has over the next two years. His wife works in the superintendent's office, his daughter Julie is a teacher at and his son Jimmy teaches at . Another son, Bob, works at State Street.

That financial institution is where Joyce ended his career in 2003. By then he worked directly with several large clients, and understood both the technical side of accounting and investing, having taking classes at Suffolk University, and the advocacy part, being the face of the company for companies like Smith Barney and Merrill Lynch.

His background gives Joyce a unique perspective on Braintree's budget, considering the recent economic downturn and the upcoming 2012 plan, which contains a significant reduction in federal aid. Through all of that, Joyce said, he is glad to see that the town continues to put money away in its savings accounts, which now total several million dollars.

"It's a funny economy that we have," he said. "People are out there spending all sorts of money and other people don't have anything at all."