Joy - Evelyn Cumbers-Wright

With deep love and gratitude for a life well-lived, we share that Joy Cumbers passed away on July 25.

She was predeceased by her sister Doreen Evans, her first husband, Albert Cumbers and her second husband, Lionel Wright.

She leaves behind to cherish her memory three sons, Murray, Alan (Debbie) and Jay (Shelli), seven grandchildren, Elisha (Andy), Chris, Michael (Chloë), Nicholas, Stephanie (Tyler), Andrea (Julian) and Jenna, as well as eight great-grandchildren, Annabelle, Lily, Willow, Henry, Elle, Callen, Joseph and Prairie.

Joy was a steadfast force of nature whose personality lived up to her name. She met the love of her life, Albert Cumbers, and they built a life predicated on laughter, giving back and hard work over the next 54 years.

She and Albert settled in Fort Garry, first on Wicklow and then on Farwell, in the house they would live in together for most of their married life, raising three boys and two dogs.

She was a long-term employee at Wilson’s Office Specialty and a member of Donnelly United Church, then Trinity United Church, where she made lifelong friendships.

She was also a Worthy Matron of the Order of the Eastern Star, a role she embraced with her steadiness, preparedness and a service-minded outlook.

Joy was the kind of person who made friends easily and firmly; she had a close-knit group of friends known as “The Club” all her life.

There was always room at Joy’s table. All were welcome, all would be fed (sometimes expired Bugles, which we never let her live down), and all would be quietly cared for.

She was creative and excelled at ceramics as a hobby, gifting various hand-painted and glazed figurines to family and friends over the years. Her grandchildren were forgiven when they accidentally broke a few.

Joy and Albert bought a cottage at Star Lake in the Whiteshell and spent their summers there, inviting whoever would like to join them to stay at their ever-evolving cabin (which was yellow, naturally, just like her Winnipeg house). She enjoyed watching her grandkids play in the water and digging her toes into the sand.

Joy and Albert loved to travel and visited places all over the world. When they retired and the winters grew too cold, they would head south to Arizona with the other snowbirds.

She also loved dogs and welcomed three mutts into her life, including Sandy, Jinx and Chimo, and even grew to love a cat named Puss, but she would never admit it.

When Albert passed away in 2005, Joy was heartbroken but held on, stubbornly refusing to leave her house for as long as she could. She found love again with Lionel, whom she married in 2007, and they shared three years before he passed away in 2010.

The only way to get her to move from her beloved house was to get her to sell it to a family member. She and Puss then moved into Shaftesbury Park Retirement Residence, then to Tuxedo Villa, where she spent her final years.

Even as her memory faded, she had a dignity and stubborn spirit that we all admired and will greatly miss.

Joy’s family would like to thank the staff at Tuxedo Villa for their compassionate care.

A celebration of Joy’s life will be held at Thomson "In the Park" Funeral Home at 1291 McGillivray Boulevard, on Saturday, Aug. 1, at 2 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, we would ask people to make a donation in Joy’s memory to the Alzheimer’s Society of Manitoba or the Winnipeg Humane Society.