Lanny and Jones family, as neighbours at the lake please accept our sincere sympathies. Joyce was not only a talented person but a lovely, lovely lady. And she made great muffins too.
With sorrow for their loss and gratitude for many joyful years, Joyce’s family announce her passing from this life in the Intensive Care Unit of the Ottawa Hospital in the early morning on Tuesday, September 18. She was predeceased by her parents, Lyle and Mabel Hinds. Left with happy memories are her husband of fifty-two years, Lanny, and their children Kimberley (Glen) Costello, David (Stacey), and Michael. She also leaves six precious grandchildren: Travis, Tearney, Taylor, Cole, Curtis, and Adam. She will be missed by her brothers David (Joan) Hinds of Vancouver B.C., Bud (Margaret) Hinds of Chippewa Ontario, sister-in-law Diane Hetherington of Kirkland Lake, brothers-in-law Dennis (Christine) in Barrie, Gary (Mary) in North Bay, honorary brother-in-law, Glenn (Erla) Manderson of Uxbridge, and her aunt, Irene Boucher, in Kapuskasing. She will be fondly remembered by many nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends. Joyce was born in Hearst, where she completed elementary school. After her secondary education at St. Joseph’s College School in Toronto, she enrolled in St. Michael’s Hospital School of Nursing, where she graduated in 1959. She worked four months at the Pembroke Hospital before entering a graduate course in operating room nursing at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal. That completed, she moved back to Toronto, where she and Lanny were married in October 1960, following a two year courtship.The newlyweds settled in Oshawa, where she worked for seven months, before pregnancy made operating room nursing difficult. In keeping with the custom of the day, she left outside employment to devote her talents to creating a loving, secure home for her family, first in Oshawa, then in Kirkland Lake, where they moved in 1962, and where she lived the remainder of her life. While raising their children, she took to curling for recreation and as means to establish friendships in her new community. She also taught herself to play the banjo, much to the delight of Lanny’s father, Ray Jones, with whom she spent many a Friday night playing the old tunes and sharing the occasional glass of wine, while her spouse and mother-in-law tried to converse in another room. In the late 1970s as her home responsibilities began to take less time, she felt the need to do more outside, with the aim of eventually returning to employment. She took swimming lessons at the new recreation complex and qualified as a lifeguard and instructor. She was the founding president of the Stingrays swimming club, a challenge that was essentially a half time job for the first year, and required her to develop strong leadership and organizational skills. At the same time she joined the Hospital Auxiliary. This volunteer work led to employment at the Kirkland and District Hospital as Coordinator of Support Services, where she provided activities for about sixty patients, was responsible for volunteers who worked with patients, and for developing the pastoral care program with local clergy. After retiring in 1992, she devoted her time and talents to volunteering at Extendicare, where she was the first president of the Family-Community Advisory Board and where she has remained a volunteer since. Several years ago she was named Volunteer of the Year by the Ontario Long Term Care Association. She has also spent many years on the executive of the Temiskaming Palliative Care Association. She was a woman of many interests and talents who demanded excellence of herself in any task she undertook. She loved her family, loved the cottage, loved to travel, loved to have fun. She was loyal and dependable. In spite of many health problems over the past two decades, she soldiered on with determination and without complaint. She was a good person. Joyce’s family is unanimous in giving their heartfelt thanks to the physicians, nurses, and all the staff at both the Kirkland District Hospital, the Intensive Care Unit at the Ottawa Hospital, and the air ambulance paramedics who were involved in her care. Their obvious competence and sensitivity in treating Joyce and their kind, thoughtful consideration for the feelings and needs of her family were superb. The family will welcome relatives and friends at the FRENCH FAMILY FUNERAL HOME (P.O. Box 994, Kirkland Lake, ON., P2N 3L1) on Sunday, September 23, 2012 from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. Funeral service will be held on Monday, September 24th, 2012 at 10:30 a.m. from the chapel of the French Family Funeral Home. Donations in Joyce’s memory may be made to the Kirkland District Hospital Foundation (145 Government Road East, Kirkland Lake, ON., P2N 3P4) or to the Ottawa Hospital Foundation (737 Parkdale Avenue, First Floor, Ottawa, ON., K1Y 1J8). Offer Condolence for the family of Joyce Jones