Joy Dow Aiken, who spent several decades in the Los Gatos and Monte Sereno area, died Oct. 28 in her Santa Cruz home. She was 79.

A native of Casa Grande, Ariz., she earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Arizona in Tucson, where she majored in anthropology and Spanish. While in college, she belonged to the Delta Gamma sorority and took a turn as its president. It was also at college that she met her future husband, Hector Aiken, an ensign in the U.S. Navy who was taking classes at the university.

After the Aikens' 1945 marriage, they moved to Panama for Hector's military assignment. In 1950, the couple settled in the Los Gatos area and later built a house on Hillview Drive, where they raised their three daughters. In the early 1960s, Aiken took up golf and became a member of the Pasatiempo Women's 18-Hole Golf Club. She was also active in various Saratoga service groups, including Montalvo.

In 1988, the couple moved to Santa Cruz. Among Aiken's interests were traveling, skydiving, river rafting, exploring rain forests and deserts, gardening, playing bridge, entertaining and teaching English to Spanish-speaking women seeking U.S. citizenship. Aiken was also the president of an investment group.

Survivors include daughters Joy Collisson of San Jose, Susan Aiken of Sunnyvale and Emily Aiken of Los Angeles; and grandchildren Benjamin and Henry Collisson and Hunter, Elizabeth, Emily and Taylor Allen.

A celebration of Aiken's life will be held Dec. 8 at 3 p.m. at the Hollins House in Pasatiempo. Donations can be made to the Hospice Caring Project, P.O. Box 670, Aptos, 95001, or to a favorite charity.