Joyce Celia Fuerst

On March 22, Joyce left this world for a better place. The end of her life journey was a period of three months in the Misericordia, Glenrose and U of A Hospitals. Joyce is survived by her husband Gordon, son Murray, daughter-in-law Shaayna, grandsons Carter and Brennen, sister Lois, nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by infant daughters Joan and Lois, her parents Minerva (Everington) and Louis Berry, brother Earl and sister-in-law Helga, brother-in-law Eric Solty.

Joyce was born in the Royal Alexandra Hospital and spent her childhood on “Mom & Dad’s farm” southwest of Stony Plain in the Holborn District. She often expressed her pride in being a “farm girl”. In 1949 the Berry family moved to Jasper Place. In 1951 they moved to Bashaw where Joyce spent her teenage years. Her favorite sport in highschool was curling. After highschool, she spread her wings and found a job in Edmonton at the Royal Bank on Whyte Avenue. After a few years, Joyce used her bookkeeping experience to land a job in the accounting department of Alberta Government Telephones. In the days of the mid 1950’s, there were a number Bashaw young people in Edmonton and the occasional “Bashaw party” was not uncommon. It was through this social connection that Joyce got to know more about Gordon, a farm boy from the Bashaw area. They were married in 1960. In 1961, this young couple moved into a new bungalow in a growing neighbourhood in Jasper Place on the outskirts of Edmonton.

In the late 1960’s and through the 1990’s, Joyce worked part time as a retail associate in several ladies wear stores. Also, because of her farm “green thumb”, she found opportunities to provide a service of weekly maintenance of indoor flower plants in the head offices of several companies in west Edmonton. Somewhere along the way, Joyce stumbled into a hand craft hobby of making decorations for Christmas – decorations of greenery, pine cones and bows. That soon blossomed into a small home-based craft business (called “Pine Cone Plus”) with local craft shows as the primary outlet for her unique creations. Hence, every fall, right up until 4 months ago, she was immersed in the creation of hundreds of fresh greens door swags and decorative baskets for friends and customers for the Christmas season.

During spring and summer, Joyce’s passion for growing things was evident; front yard, back yard and all around the house. She took great pride in her self-taught skill of colour blending. She was a staunch believer in the proper use of fertilizer to get the best floral results possible and to choose appropriate plants for sun and shade conditions. Any bare spot of soil was a place for growing a flower. When her son Murray started skiing in 1977, Joyce and Gordon decided to take it up as well. They skied into their early 70’s and Joyce enjoyed many seasons with her family in the mountains “with the wind in her hair”. Nakiska was a favorite destination. Back in the 1970’s, Joyce was one of the founders of a ladies neighbourhood walking group. The group is still active, has expanded 3 times over and is now referred to as the “walking, talking group”; a great example of friendship that has stuck together through thick and thin.

Joyce never hesitated to help someone learn how to knit an afghan, make sourdough biscuits in the kitchen, plan a beautiful grouping of flowers, canning beat pickles at harvest time, or make a bow for a Christmas decoration. Her philosophy was to jump in and learn a new skill and she respected people who got the job done. Her recipe for happiness was being busy doing what she loved to do.

For all things there is a beginning and an end. Although her life journey has ended, Joyce did live a full and happy life. She will be dearly missed.

A memorial gathering to remember and honour Joyce’s life will take place on Friday, May 2 at 2:00pm at Trinity Funeral Home at 10530-116 Street, Edmonton.

In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to the Glenrose Hospital Foundation.