Doris "Joyce" Hollett Reardon

It is with deep sadness that the family announces the peaceful passing of Doris Joyce Reardon, 86, of Halifax (Parkland on the Gardens) on May 26, 2015 in the presence of family members. Joyce was the daughter of Albert Hollett of Burin, Newfoundland and Mayme Sophia (Myers) of Wentworth, Nova Scotia and the beloved wife of Kenneth V. Reardon Sr., of Halifax.

A consummate mother with tremendous moral character and strength, as well as simple values, Joyce was always first and foremost a nurturing mother to her family. Growing up in a generation focused on wealth and status, Joyce put all that aside and chose to be, in the words of her family, “just a beautiful person.” She had no greater passion or priority in life than raising and caring for her family. She practiced sacrifice and selflessness as a way of life, whether it meant foregoing her career to undergo 10 pregnancies in 10 years, or leaving her big city home and her friends and social activities to move to a farm in order to help her youngest girls pursue their dreams of raising horses and riding.

Her love for children and family was unequalled. Whether she spent time taking her children to lessons at the Waeg, chasing them around the beach at Hubbards, cheering them on through school and other events or mucking out the horse stalls at the farm in Scotch Village with her daughters, time spent with her family triumphed all else.

Joyce was a true friend to all and welcomed everyone to her home. In her own way she exemplified and promoted an open-minded and tolerant world. A favorite moment was her singing of “Let There be Peace on Earth” with the family during gatherings. She tirelessly organized family parties and gatherings, looking for any reason or occasion to unite immediate and related families. She would spend days preparing food, pies, jams and other goodies to feed anyone who arrived.

Family, friends and visitors always received Joyce’s unwavering attention. With them, she was engaged, empathetic and genuinely interested in what they had to say. Friends visiting would spend hours sitting in the kitchen or living room talking to her. She was a charismatic person who could talk openly to her children’s teenage friends as easily as she could to Queen Elizabeth, whom she met during a royal visit to Windsor, Nova Scotia in 1976. Joyce was also a loving and caring soul who readily showed her affection whenever she greeted family and friends. She always welcomed them with hugs and kisses and made a point of ending every conversation or visit with “I love you.”

Joyce was born on May 15, 1929 in Halifax. A graduate of Halifax’s Queen Elizabeth High School in 1947, she worked briefly as a dental assistant before marrying her one true love, Ken, in 1952 and beginning their family. Only her love for her high school sweetheart, Ken, surpassed her love for family. Joyce and Ken spent 70 wonderful years together, 63 of those married. Ken’s fondest memories still include kissing her and, more recently, being by her side at Parkland and just holding hands.

As a young couple, they enjoyed friends in many Halifax social circles, loved dancing and wowed many a teenager at their children’s house parties with renditions of the jive and the jitterbug. As their children aged, Joyce and Ken travelled regularly to Bermuda and in retirement spent many years wintering in Florida along with frequently travelling elsewhere to international tennis events, where Ken represented Canada on senior national teams.

Joyce was also an avid sports enthusiast and athlete. She was a former provincial basketball champion with the Halifax Blue Cagettes as well as an accomplished tennis player and curler as a young adult. Her children followed in her footsteps, going on to represent Nova Scotia and Canada in a wide range of sports at provincial, national and international events. Joyce enjoyed following professional sports and loved spending evenings with family and friends cheering for Michael Jordan, Roger Federer, Wayne Gretzky and, more recently, Sidney Crosby, who was born on the same day as one of her granddaughters. She regularly attended the Rogers Cup Tennis Championships in Ontario and Quebec with Ken and family members. She also made a point of attending professional basketball and hockey games whenever the opportunity arose.

Joyce enjoyed spending quiet time in her sunroom watching sports on TV and doing crossword puzzles or playing cards with Ken. She also loved to garden and walk or play with the dogs and other animals at the farm in Scotch Village and later at her daughter’s home in Enfield.

Born into the Anglican Church, Joyce became a devout Catholic and the family’s spiritual leader after marrying Ken. She was actively involved with several parishes through her life as the family relocated within the Halifax and Windsor areas and Florida. These included St. Michaels (Spryfield), St. Agnes, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. John The Evangelist (Windsor), St. Clements (Dartmouth), St. Bernard (Enfield) and St. Martha’s in Sarasota, Florida. Her spirituality and faith had a strong influence on the values of her family and provided her with the inner strength to overcome cancer and other emotional and health challenges. In 1977 doctors diagnosed Joyce with pancreatic cancer and gave her only a few months to live. As her physical strength waned she showed an amazing will to survive, recover and overcome the cancer, as well as several other traumatic events in her later years. Joyce lived to welcome 22 grandchildren and 28 great grandchildren into this world over the next 38 years. She endured to ensure she was here for most of her children’s adult life. Our family could not have been more blessed.

Joyce never stopped giving. She donated regularly to the church and as a cancer survivor herself sought to improve the lives of others with regular donations to charities such as the Canadian Cancer Society, Heart and Stroke Foundation, MS Society and the QEII Foundation.

Joyce is survived by husband Ken Reardon Sr.; her six daughters, Debbie Lawrence (Dave), Judy Dauphinee (Alan), Carol Reardon, Kathy McDonah (Stephen), Linda Reardon Peverill, Paula Reardon; and her two sons, Ken Reardon Jr. (Cindy) and Terry Reardon (Rhonda). She is also survived by her sister Shirley Marowitch, 21 grandchildren, 28 great-grandchildren, many nieces and nephews and brother in law Charles Reardon. She was predeceased by her grandson, Peter Strong; her sister, Constance (Connie) Grimes, brother, Don Hollett and son in law, Larry Peverill.

The family wishes to extend a special thanks to Dr. Laurie Mallory and Path Clinic staff as well as Dr. Valerie Lewis, nursing and operations staff at Parkland on the Gardens and private caregiver specialist Glenda Hibbs, for their care, support and friendship through Joyce’s last few years. We also wish to acknowledge the efforts of our sister, Carol Reardon, who for the last several years has provided, coordinated and managed home and support care, medical care and appointments for both our mother and father.

Visitation will be held at J.A. Snow Funeral Home, 339 Lacewood Drive in Halifax, on June 17th, 2015 between 1 p.m.-4 p.m. and 6 p.m.-9 p.m. Funeral Service will be held at St. Agnes Church on June 18th, 2015 at 11:00 a.m. Rev. Morris officiating. She has been cremated as per her wishes and interment will follow at later date. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to the Neo-Natal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) through the IWK Children’s Hospital Foundation Office at 902-470-8085. Donations can alternatively be made to the Centre for Health Care of the Elderly, QEII Health Sciences Centre, PATH Clinic on-line at https://qe2foundation.ca/memory (Please direct your contributions to the PATH fund T858).

“You dedicated your life to nurture, protect and love your family. You will always be in our hearts.

We Love You Nanie!”