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Obituary for Joyce Georgina Harford
In the early afternoon of Sunday, December 3rd Joyce Georgina Harford of Castlegar, BC passed away peacefully in the warmth and love of her home, surrounded by her family. As Joy took her final breath, she saw beautiful hummingbirds, so many flowers and the beauty of Christmas all around, her along with the faces of her loved ones, who gathered for her departure into the next world. She was serenaded into the heavenly kingdom by her granddaughter’s rendition of “If I needed you”. Joy was just 25 days shy of her 90th birthday.
Joy was born December 28th, 1933 at the Edmonton General Hospital to parents Edward Arthur Elwyn Srigley and Mercy Daisy Stapley. Joy was the younger sister of Barbara and older sister to Nancy.
Joy spent the first nine years of her life in Northern Alberta foster homes before she and Barbara moved with their Mother to Burnaby, BC. Joy completed Grade Ten at Burnaby Junior High before attending Business College to pursue a career as a stenographer.
She met and married Mel Moore at a young age and together they had three children – Rory, Kelly and Brigett. This marriage ended not long after the birth of Brigett. Joy became a single working Mom of the 3, not a common scenario in the 1960s. While working at Noranda Copper, she met the love of her life Phil Harford and welcomed him along with his two sons, Frank and John, into her love and care. Joy again became a trail blazer by remarrying and creating a nurturing and loving environment for their blended family. Phil and Joy moved their family to the Similkameen Falls on the Hope Princeton Highway where they began a long and shared working life as business owners. It was here that they welcomed daughter Barbie and son Casey into the family. They became a live version of the Brady Bunch.
After a few years the family moved to Mission where they owned and operated a new franchise – the Dairy Queen, initially as an ice cream seasonal business and eventually building a new restaurant that supported both ice cream and hot food. Eventually they settled in Nelson where they owned and operated the Queen City Ice Cream Parlour. Joy finished up her career by returning to school to upgrade her administrative skills, then working for the Ministry of Highways and retiring from the Ministry of Forests, which she described as her favourite job. Joy and Phil travelled as often as they could and once they were both retired they especially enjoyed cruising and heading south to Yuma, Arizona with pit stops in Reno, Nevada along the way.
After the death of her husband, Joy moved to Castlegar in 2007 to live with daughter Barbie and her family for the next 16 years. Joy was not able to sit still in her retirement and was a proud volunteer for the Castlegar Hospital Auxiliary at the Treasure Shop and for the Canadian Cancer Society. When she could no longer stand at the front in the treasure shop, she became the phone voice of the Auxiliary, calling out successful bidders for the silent auctions and notifying members of meetings. Joy spent her last few years enjoying playing cards three times a week at the Castlegar Seniors Center and attending events at IRIS and in Genelle.
Joy continued to travel domestically to see her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. She managed two solo international trips – one to Cuba for her granddaughters wedding and the last trip to see the fall colours along the east coast. She then made trips to Mexico, Europe and in 2019 to Hawaii, accompanied by Barbie.
Joy loved her family and was always sharing stories about them. She enjoyed gardening, travelling, visiting various casinos, music, and she was always collecting something. As it became more difficult for her travel she embraced technology fully and kept in touch with everyone via text, Facebook and Facetime. She loved to play her “brain games” and shared daily motivational messages from her Facebook page. Joy was fiercely independent and was able to remain in her home until the time of her passing. She drove her “silver streak” right up to her diagnosis in May. In the weeks leading up to her passing, Joy never complained. She embraced one of her life mottos which was to “get on with it” and that’s what she did, adapting her environment and activities so that she could live her life to the fullest. Joy’s strength and courage in her final days brought her family so much comfort.
Joy is survived by her children Frank Harford (Janice), John Harford (Debbie), Rory Moore, Kelly Moore (Karen), Brigett Kimber and Barbie Kalmakoff (Bob); grandchildren Mikylah Doane (Dustin), Breanna Harford, Chris Harford, Kristina Pourmokhtari (Bay), Lyndsey Gerbrandt (Greg), Chelsey Cooper (Graham), Dicky Kimber (Jenna), Rebecca Kalmakoff (Kenny), Marissa Kalmakoff (Dyllon), Jenna Kalmakoff (Jack), Ben Kalmakoff, Meghan Schuster, Rachel Nesland (Austin) & Cassie Schuster (Joseph). Joy was especially proud to be “GG” to Zealand, Alonzo, Theo, Jameson, Sullivan, Wells, Llewyn, Whitney, Daniel, Chihiro, Emmi and Linkyn.
Joy was predeceased by her husband Phil, son Casey Harford, grandsons Danny Kimber and Mathew Kalmakoff and son-in-law Bob Flann.
At her request, Joy was cremated. An intimate celebration of her life was held in the hours following her passing by family members with plans for a larger celebration to be held next summer.
Sunday December 3rd 2023
Death notice for the town of: Castlegar, Province: Colombie britanique
death notice Joyce Georgina Harford Sunday December 3rd 2023
obituaries notice Joyce Georgina Harford Sunday December 3rd 2023
We offer our deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Joyce Georgina Harford Sunday December 3rd 2023 and hope that their memory may be a source of comfort during this difficult time. Your thoughts and kind words are greatly appreciated.
