Joyce was born to Lillian and John Calvert in Leeds, U.K. She grew up in Huddersfield, Yorkshire, attending Royds Hall, the first co-educational high school in Huddersfield. In the late 1930s Joyce attended Maria Grey teachers’ college associated with the University of London, and taught kindergarten and primary school during the war years. She met future husband Fred, our father, while he was serving in the RCAF in England.
Joyce emigrated to Canada in February 1947, crossing the Atlantic in a Lancaster bomber to marry Fred in Calgary. Joyce recalled this flight to the Hamilton Spectator in 2014, as Hamilton’s Lancaster was about to fly to England. Dad remained in the RCAF for several years after WWII, thus we lived in Exeter Ontario, Moncton New Brunswick, Nottingham England and North Bay. On Dad’s retirement from the RCAF, our parents lived in Ottawa and moved, finally, to Hamilton’s St. Elizabeth’s Village.
Trained as a concert pianist, Joyce was an incredibly gifted musician who could play all genres of music and who exposed us to the beauty of the piano by playing for the family especially on Sunday afternoons. Joyce also sang, along with her parents, in the Huddersfield Choral Society. In sports, as a younger person, Joyce loved field hockey and tennis and was an accomplished swimmer. She practiced yoga long before it became popular and rode a bicycle into her 70s. Our parents loved gardening and, in retirement, engaged in growing an abundance of vegetables which they shared with neighbours, and preserved for the winter.
Joyce was an amazing raconteur who could recall events from her childhood, school years, and the WWII years in England in vivid colour and detail. For us she was a steadfast, devoted and loving mother in all ways, supporting and encouraging our various endeavours, and teaching us important values for life. In the Anglican church she was a member of the Women’s Auxiliary. Joyce’s later years were compromised by debilitating osteoarthritis and osteoporosis and she struggled with these painful afflictions with courage and determination. Throughout, she never lost her tremendous sense of humour.
Predeceased by beloved husband Fred of 54 years and many cherished friends, Joyce is survived by son John and daughter Janina and close relatives Fred and Daniella in B.C.; Monique, David and Francis in France; Jane, Douglas, Robert, Patricia, and Anne in England; Jacqueline in Holland; and lifelong friend Celia in England. We are deeply grateful to the LHN coordinators and nurses, and to Rebecca and her staff at St Elizabeth’s Retirement Residence for their care and support to Joyce in her last months.
There will be a Celebration of Life service at Christ’s Church Cathedral, 252 James Street North, Hamilton, at 11:00 am on Friday March 1, followed by a reception.
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