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Obituary: Mrs Joyce Dancey 18/1/1932 - 25/8/2012
(August 25, 2012)STEVE Dancey and family are sad to announce that Mrs Joyce Dancey died peacefully at the Royal United Hospital in Bath at around 9.45am on Saturday 25 August aged 80.
Joyce had suffered a number of medical problems associated with senile dementia for several years but had been lovingly cared for at Catherine House in Frome since 2004.
During the past eight years she made regular return trips to her home in Newport, Warminster until summer 2009, when it was considered she was too weak to make the journeys.
She had kept her characteristic good humour throughout her long illness and was a popular resident at the nursing home.
Joyce was a mother of four, grandmother to eight and had four great-grandchildren (all girls living in France or Switzerland).
She was well known in the town and over many years had been involved in a number of activities.
During the 1950s and 1960s she was regularly seen playing tennis in the park most summer afternoons,
while in the 1970s she advanced in the 'keep-fit' world to the extent that she ran a class at Codford, and her elder sister Margaret played the piano.
Joyce arrived in Warminster in 1942 after several brushes with the Luftwaffe.
After watching dog-fights in Kent in the Battle of Britain, being trapped in Bristol Temple Meads during a devastating German attack on the city and being machine-gunned in a school playground in Torquay her mother decided that being with relatives in Warminster would be a safer bet. Nonetheless the experience left her with a lifelong fear of thunder.
In Warminster she attended the old Close School before moving on to Trowbridge Girls' High School. After the war she worked in London for Fry's a Ford main dealer and wine and beer company Lovibond. (The photo was taken on Warminster boating lake in 1951)
Following her marriage she returned to Warminster and lived for many years in Smallbrook Lane in a cottage next door but one to her mother.
Later she helped her husband Syd build two modern bungalows which stand as lasting testament to their enterprise - Meadow View (1962) in Smallbrook Lane and Long Acre (1965) in Newtown, Heytesbury.
In 1973 Joyce joined her husband at Kingdown School when she worked as an assistant technician and became a well-known face to a generation of Warminster students. This was a very happy time for her working in a team that included Roy and Ann Spurr, Rex Bignall, Doug Wyer and Peter Briggs.
A planned for happy retirement was marred by Syd's untimely death in 1986 but Joyce showed fortitude despite the heavy blow.
She moved to Newport in Warminster in June 1987 to become one of the close's first residents and made many new friends including Sam Smart, who would often escort her on afternoon trips in his spotless Mercedes.
Despite looming medical problems Joyce continued to maintain her cheerful disposition and take an interest in her close family. RIP
Joyce had suffered a number of medical problems associated with senile dementia for several years but had been lovingly cared for at Catherine House in Frome since 2004.
During the past eight years she made regular return trips to her home in Newport, Warminster until summer 2009, when it was considered she was too weak to make the journeys.
She had kept her characteristic good humour throughout her long illness and was a popular resident at the nursing home.
Joyce was a mother of four, grandmother to eight and had four great-grandchildren (all girls living in France or Switzerland).
She was well known in the town and over many years had been involved in a number of activities.
During the 1950s and 1960s she was regularly seen playing tennis in the park most summer afternoons,
while in the 1970s she advanced in the 'keep-fit' world to the extent that she ran a class at Codford, and her elder sister Margaret played the piano.Joyce arrived in Warminster in 1942 after several brushes with the Luftwaffe.
After watching dog-fights in Kent in the Battle of Britain, being trapped in Bristol Temple Meads during a devastating German attack on the city and being machine-gunned in a school playground in Torquay her mother decided that being with relatives in Warminster would be a safer bet. Nonetheless the experience left her with a lifelong fear of thunder.
In Warminster she attended the old Close School before moving on to Trowbridge Girls' High School. After the war she worked in London for Fry's a Ford main dealer and wine and beer company Lovibond. (The photo was taken on Warminster boating lake in 1951)
Following her marriage she returned to Warminster and lived for many years in Smallbrook Lane in a cottage next door but one to her mother.
Later she helped her husband Syd build two modern bungalows which stand as lasting testament to their enterprise - Meadow View (1962) in Smallbrook Lane and Long Acre (1965) in Newtown, Heytesbury.
In 1973 Joyce joined her husband at Kingdown School when she worked as an assistant technician and became a well-known face to a generation of Warminster students. This was a very happy time for her working in a team that included Roy and Ann Spurr, Rex Bignall, Doug Wyer and Peter Briggs.
A planned for happy retirement was marred by Syd's untimely death in 1986 but Joyce showed fortitude despite the heavy blow.
She moved to Newport in Warminster in June 1987 to become one of the close's first residents and made many new friends including Sam Smart, who would often escort her on afternoon trips in his spotless Mercedes.
Despite looming medical problems Joyce continued to maintain her cheerful disposition and take an interest in her close family. RIP