Generous spirit will be missed

ONCE Joyce Strickland discovered the Yarra Valley she was not to be happy anywhere else.
In 1979 Joyce and husband Don purchased two acres at Castella bordered by the Yea River, where they cleared the block on their own at weekends, and proceeded to build a new home.
The maintenance of the property eventually became too big a task for Joyce and Don and they moved to Croydon briefly.
They were never really happy there, however, and after Don’s retirement, with the country lifestyle again beckoning, they bought land in Yarra Glen in 1996, built a new house and settled into their new community.
Joyce was born in Shepparton on 19 April 1929, the second of Annie and Bert Billman’s five children.
She enjoyed a happy childhood in the country but when her father enlisted in World War II the family moved to Melbourne.
After leaving school Joyce worked as a knitting machine operator at various inner city mills.
After an unsuccessful marriage to Edwin Alley, Joyce found herself a single mum.
She had developed the strong work ethic which stayed with her all her life and, at a time when there was little, if any, government support she provided well for herself and her daughter, Michelle.
It was in the late ’50s that she rekindled a childhood friendship with Don Strickland and life took a happy turn. Friendship blossomed into romance and they were married on 16 April 1960.
After 20 years in suburbia they made the move to two acres of bushland at Castella.
Although officially retired, it wasn’t long before Joyce returned to the workforce trimming and packing strawberry runners at Binz Nursery in Toolangi.
The work was monotonous and there were times she was frozen to the bone but, as always, she made the most of it with a smile on her face and happy to be entertaining her fellow workers. Joyce was known for her devilish sense of humour and generous spirit.
For Joyce, family was always paramount, but even in the busiest of times she crammed a lot into life.
She had a passion for gardening, cooking, the Liberal Party, her craft group The Yarra Glen Living and Learning Centre and the mighty Bombers – she was an ardent Essendon supporter.
She loved animals, was a saver of stray dogs, and a volunteer at the Blue Cross Animal Shelter.
Joyce was a loving and much-loved wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and sister, and a loyal friend who is sadly missed.
Her death on 21 March was a great loss to her family, friends and her community.