Doreen Isabel Joyce

Doreen surprised us once again by passing away suddenly and peacefully in her 101st year, while chatting with her son Ben in the waiting room of the Deep River Hospital Emergency Department. Her record of avoiding a hospital stay for over 65 years remains intact.

Doreen was one of five children of Storey and Vera Redshaw of Oakville, Ontario. She is survived by her sister, Carol Moro (Robert) of Peterborough, and predeceased by her siblings Audrey Caven (Darryl), Helen Beasley (Dave), and Grant Redshaw (Joyce). She met her husband, the late James Robert (Bob) Joyce in high school, a few years before he enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II. They married in 1950 in Oakville, and moved to Deep River in 1957 with their four young children, Ben, Chris, Sara and Andy; a fifth child, Greg, was born in Deep River in 1959.

Doreen and Bob thoroughly enjoyed life in Deep River, and took advantage of everything it had to offer their young family, especially outdoor and sporting activities and an excellent library. Doreen was predeceased by Bob, who died much too early in 1978.  Fiercely independent, she was determined to make a full and satisfying life for herself in widowhood, and she did so successfully with the encouragement of her family and her friends, particularly Betty & Laurie Alexander, Carol & Joe Carr, and Dorothy & Don Ross, her long-time Deep River friends.

Doreen was devoted to her family and friends. Every birthday and special event or holiday was marked with a card and a phone call. She loved to tell a funny story, of which she had hundreds, often laughing so much in anticipation of the punchline that she struggled to get the words out.  Doreen had a knack for making new friends everywhere she went, and for maintaining her old ones. She stayed in regular touch with friends from high school, from the Deep River tennis and curling clubs, from Keys Public School where she was the school secretary for over 20 years, from volunteering with the Canadian Cancer Society, and from her travels after retirement.  A voracious reader and crossword puzzle addict, she had her family trained never to call her during the half hour on weekdays sacred to matching wits with the contestants on Jeopardy!. She loved sports, and was a gifted athlete, remaining an active tennis player, skater, curler and golfer well into her 80’s. Summer afternoons were often spent at the beach, reading or chatting with a group of friends, and for many years she enjoyed Aquafit classes at the town pool, followed by a sauna and a cup of coffee with “the girls”.  

Never afraid to tackle something new, she learned to downhill ski in her 40’s, whitewater canoe in her 50’s, golf in her 60’s and play bridge in her ‘70’s.  Occasionally Doreen’s children preached caution, such as when Mom’s friend Myrna, a motorcycle enthusiast, invited Doreen, then in her 60’s, to ride pillion on a tour of New York State. Of course, she ignored us, accepted, and had a great trip. In her 80’s, Doreen received a gift of a round-the-world plane ticket on Air Canada from her son Ben. She managed to stretch that ticket into 6 weeks of solo travel in Australia and South East Asia, incorporating a stay on a sheep farm in Victoria and a bus trip down the Malay Peninsula, making many new friends.

As Doreen’s mobility diminished in her late 90’s, she was fortunate to have practical help at home from two wonderful support workers, Cathy Ryan and Barbara Hocking. They, too, became good friends, supporting her Tim Horton’s latte habit and importing fresh scones from the Arnprior Truckstop. Doreen particularly enjoyed singing old standards with Barbara while they drove to various appointments. In her final years, as her hearing and eyesight worsened steadily, Doreen made the effort to master email and Facetime to be able to stay in touch with her far-flung family, and used an e-reader to continue reading daily. Any email misfires were blamed on the iPad.

Doreen will be greatly missed and remembered with love and laughter by her sons Ben (Carla Joyce) of Toronto, Chris (Marie-Andree Rivet) of Coquitlam, Andy of Toronto and Greg (Tracy Joyce) of Deep River, her daughter Sara (Milton Spidla) of Toronto, her six grandchildren Ryan (Alyson), Amy (Chase), Andrew (Indre), Michael, Carl and Marina, and her three great-grandchildren, Johnathan, Addyson and Callan. She is remembered with great affection as Auntie Do by her many nieces and nephews. 

A Memorial Service will be held at the Deep River Community Church on Friday, June 19th at 2:00pm, followed by a reception. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to the Deep River Community Foundation or the Canadian Cancer Society.

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