Joan was born 97 years ago in Handsworth, Birmingham. One of three sisters, with Betty her twin , and Margaret the youngest, Joan survived both siblings. Today we remember all three, as well as her late husband Ossie.
After leaving school at 14 Joan did some clerical work for a few years before joining the WRAFs. She always spoke fondly of her life based at RAF Sealand, Cheshire, and the friends she made. It was on a train she boarded at Crewe, as she returned to base after home leave, that she met Ossie, a young man from Essex, who was to become her husband. He shared his sandwiches with her and Joan said it was love at first sight. At the end of the war, after their marriage in 1945, they moved back to Essex where Kathy and Pat were born and where Joan remained until 2011.
Joan’s main hobby and talent was knitting. She said she’d been knitting since she was four. She could follow the most complicated patterns, very often whilst watching television at the same time. When her sight was worsening she and her sister Betty got together to knit blanket squares for charity.
Ossie's favourite pastime was electronics and he was fascinated with broadcast from the early days, as a young boy. At the end of the war he salvaged and accumulated many spare parts from an RAF dump (we aren't sure if this was entirely legitimate!), and with them built the family's first TV, radio and later a stereo system. If he had survived till the eighties or nineties he would have surelybuilt a computer and been a whiz on a mobile phone. The dining table was often covered with bits of electrical parts which sometimes tried Joan's patience.
in 1956 we nearly lost Mum to a serious bout of pneumonia. She was miraculously saved by a brand new antibiotic (she was allergic to penicillin which aggravated her condition). There was a similar critical event 5 years later, which she again survived. She then lived until the age of almost 97, proving she was indeed a fighter. I often think how different our lives would have been without her.
In 1972 Ossie, whose experience in the RAF fixing war damaged planes had left him with a fear of flying, was persuaded to board a plane and visit their daughter Pat who was by now married and living in Beirut. The crazy Lebanese driving proved to be more terrifying than the flight! This was possibly the last big journey they made together.
Joan and Ossie were together for 29 years. Sadly, in April 1974 Ossie died suddenly of stroke, aged 55: a tragic loss to us all. Joan lived the rest of her life alone as a widow, and some years after losing Ossie her sight began to fail, forcing her to change how she would lead the rest of her life.
After a few less than happy years remaining in the family home Joan decided to move to Clacton on the East coast to be nearer to some close friends. Here she started a new life, forming new friendships and travelling abroad several times which she loved. She liked being above ground and had no fear of heights. She enjoyed a short flight on a Concorde, went in a hot air balloon with her grandson Jonathan, had a trip in a small bi-plane and went
up on the London Eye. By this time she had lost most of her sight so couldn’t see much of the views, but this didn’t curb her enthusiasm. Despite trying she failed to persuade anyone to take her up in a helicopter!
The last time the three sisters were all together was at the twins’ 80th birthday which they celebrated at Betty’s home in Sussex. They lost Betty in 2004 and Margaret in 2008.
After her diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Joan moved to Moreton Hill to be nearer her family in Gloucestershire. There she was lovingly cared for by some dedicated members of staff who treated her with sensitivity, dignity and compassion in her final days.
Joan was a warm, loving, affectionate and generous mother and grandmother. She was a loyal friend, slow to judge, accepting people as they are and finding the best in them. She valued the importance of unconditional love within the family and beyond. Friends have commented on the warm welcome they received from her when visiting us at home.
Joan has left not only two daughters, but four grandchildren: Dominic, Jonathan, David and Daniele, and five great-grandchildren: Sami, Theo, Rafa, Juno and Evelyn the youngest. The cruelty of dementia sadly prevented her from truly enjoying or knowing the young children. But the older ones remember her and are beginning to understand that they will not see her again.
She will be held in their hearts with so much love: Mum, Nana, great-Nana, a true friend, a big heart and a wise soul.