Joan Beryl Joyce (19 Dec 1936 - 25 Jul 2022)

In loving memory of Joan Beryl Joyce who sadly passed away on 25th July 2022.

Family flowers only are requested at the funeral but if you wish to make a donation to the Stroke Association through this web page, in memory of Joan, then it will be greatly appreciated.

Joan was married to Tony for over 64 years. They have 3 children, Sharon, Bev and Martin. They have 7 Grandchildren, Denise, Michelle, Christine, Suzanne, Corelle, Kyle and Charlie, and 6 Great Grandchildren, Chloe, Jessica, Eleanor, Elliott, Freya and Regan.

Joan was born in Tottenham in 1936. Her parents, Lewis and Ivy Coleman chose not to evacuate her from London during the war and her dad worked as a mechanic on London Transport buses (a reserved occupation). Joan attended theatre school from the age of 5 up to 16 and at aged five she was a child performer, singing and tap dancing on the stage like Shirley Temple. Her Dad would ferry her to the various performances, whilst pretending to test drive the London buses! She always had to hide out of sight! She often entertained the troops during the war, once sharing the stage with Jack Warner (Dixon of Dock Green) and even performing for the old Princess Royal, Princess Mary.

When the time came to leave school at 16, at the behest of her parents, she embarked on a secretarial career in the office of a high end solicitors in Holborn, London.

Joan knew Tony whilst at School at Edmonton County Grammar School. They were in the same year but not the same class. They got together after school had ended and she travelled everywhere with him on the back of his Triumph Tiger 100 Motorbike, to the Ace Café on the North Circular road and sometimes on to Southend-on-Sea for fish and chips on the pier.

Both their respective families relocated in the 50’s to Southend-on-Sea and it is here that she and Tony were married. After living in a rented flat, they bought their first bungalow and had Sharon and then purchased a second larger house where they had Bev and adopted Martin into their family.

They lived in Southend until Sharon was eight and then they moved for work to Bedford, where they lived for 38 years in a village called Renhold. During that time Tony and Joan went alone and started a successful electronics company, supplying semiconductors and helping to design and build them in to electronic devices. Joan was a partner in the company.

Having the business enabled them both to travel the world, seeing the sights with friends and relatives. Cruising was a favourite way to do so. They also loved exploring the UK with their touring caravan. The success of the business also allowed them to be upwardly mobile and they purchased another beautiful house in a different part of Renhold in a road called Brookside. The house was so big and grand that we took to calling her Lady Brookside, which she loved!

Joan and Tony moved to the New Forest in 2012 and actively engaged in local dancing groups and the U3A, meeting with friends for dinners and walks and watching their family grow.

Apart from her family, Joan's passions in life have always been playing her Technics organ, which sadly she was unable to do in her latter years. She inherited this skill from her piano-playing Dad. The whole family would regularly enjoy a good sing song around the organ with Joan playing at family gatherings and Christmas. Her second love was gardening and she was always very proud of her garden wherever she lived. She always said in later years that she should have taken up a horticultural career when she left school!

Joan had a love of life and loved doing fun things! She also liked a Rum Punch, as demonstrated on a catamaran in the Caribbean, where having imbibed a few too many, she proceeded to dance with everyone who wanted to! She also messed about on a sleigh in Austria after several Schnapps, when on a winter holiday.

She was generous by nature and loved being with her grandchildren and great grandchildren, who all loved her too. Joan was a big Disney fan and made many trips to Florida and Paris with all the family. Her home has all sorts of Disney memorabilia. Whenever the family went to any Disney park we always had to ride on 'It's a Small World' first, to mark the start of the whole holiday - and this has become a firm family tradition for everyone now!

Because of the success of the business Joan was able to retire from work in her fifties, which meant that she had a long and happy retirement until three and a half years ago when she suffered a series of silent strokes which began her slow decline in health and which ultimately took her from us. It was very hard to watch the Joan we all loved disappear before our eyes, but through it all her mind stayed sharp and until very recently she could still smile and chuckle at a good joke!

Joan enjoyed such a rich and fulfilling life, with family being central to it always, and we as a family will miss her hugely.