Joyce Jones from Wearhead passed away on December 20th in Brancepeth Court nursing home where she had resided for almost two years.
Joyce was born at Broad Law, Eastgate, on January 5th 1934 to Alfred and Isabelle Jane Appleby, the youngest of 8 siblings. She had three sisters, Evelyn, Belle and May, and four brothers, Bill, Alf, Bob and Thomas, sadly Thomas died before Joyce was born.
The family moved down to White House, near Eastgate, and Joyce attended Eastgate school. When she was 16, her mother died, so she stayed at home to care for her brothers as well as working part time at the Cross Keys in the village.
She enjoyed dancing, and it was at one of the dances at St Johns Chapel that she met Ivan Jones from Wearhead. They married at Eastgate church on a snowy Easter Saturday, April 5th 1958, then moved to a bungalow “HolmLea” in Wearhead, being married for over 60 years until Ivan passed away.
They had two children, Michael and Shirley, and Joyce stayed at home to look after them, while taking on part time cleaning jobs for local people before starting work at Wearhead Co-op store where she remained until her retirement 23 years later.
When Michael married Liz, Joyce and Ivan became grandparents, then later, great grandparents.
Joyce loved animals, she had a pet goat, a budgie, a cat, some bantams and a Jack Russell terrier called Patch, although not all at the same time.
She was a member of the WI and the Young Wives club, helped with the Girl Guides and was the church warden at Heatherycleugh. She enjoyed lots of hobbies, knitting, country dancing, jigsaws, dominoes, whist drives, cooking and indoor bowls. Gardening was enjoyed by her and Ivan, both being members of the High Pennines Horticultural Society. As well as travelling to visit gardens all over the North East, they travelled further afield visiting Europe courtesy of Weardale Motor Services.
She supported various charities, including The Kit Wilson Trust for Animal Welfare, which was where Shirley worked, the Royal British Legion poppy appeal, and the Great North Air Ambulance, which benefited from a donation of over £300 collected at her funeral.
Ivan died in 2018 and Joyce remained at HolmLea until 2023 when she moved to Brancepeth Court nursing home in Willington where she was well cared for and had regular visits from Michael, Shirley and friends with news from up the dale.
Joyce passed away peacefully in her sleep on December 20th, just a couple of weeks short of her 92nd birthday. On a snowy day in January, and following a well attended service conducted by the Reverend Heather Ross at St. Thomas’ church, Heatherycleugh, she was laid to rest next to Ivan in Burtree Ford cemetery.
