There was a memorable celebration for one special resident at the Raymond Terrace Gardens Care Community nursing home on November 16.
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The facility's oldest resident Joyce Wood had reached another milestone, enjoying her 102nd birthday with a small number of family (due to COVID restrictions) and her many resident friends.
Asked about her secret to longevity, the widowed centenarian said it was doing the simple things in life. "I have always been active and I enjoy going out. I enjoy social gatherings and helping out wherever I can."
Joyce (nee Farley) was born in Karuah, just five days after the signing of the Armistice (eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918) to end the First World War.
"I was later told by my mother that I was christened Joyce because it had been a great 'joy' for the family that I had arrived at the end of the war," she said.
The youngest of a family of nine children, Joyce attended Karuah primary school before later moving to Sydney for work where she met her husband Keith Wood, a bread maker who later joined the Royal Australian Air Force "flying the Catalina flying boats".
But the couple never ventured far from Port Stephens and settled in Raymond Terrace with their two children. Joyce lost her husband after 55 years of marriage 18 years ago and one of two daughters recently. She has three grandchildren, seven great grandchildren and her first great great grandchild due in April 2021.
A keen churchgoer, Joyce was an active member of the local church and the Probus club and has always enjoyed gardening, swimming, knitting and crocheting. But her greatest love over the years, aside from her adoring family, has been playing lawn bowls.
She was a longtime member of the Raymond Terrace Bowling Club, skippering a number of competitive teams for many years.
"I kept playing until I was 80," she said. "I fell in love with the game and I also enjoyed the social aspect, attending functions and presentations."
Joyce said that she thoroughly enjoyed her 102nd birthday celebrations despite the restrictions due to the pandemic, but admitted they were not as significant as her 100th birthday when she received messages of congratulations from the Queen, Prime Minister and Minister for Veterans Affairs.
Michelle Armstrong, general manager of the Raymond Terrace facility, said that Joyce had been a popular resident at the home from the day she moved in.
"She is a delight to have around and is very popular with her many friends," Ms Armstrong said.
