1923 – 13.5.2020
Emily Hooper, grand-daughter of Jim and Joyce Hooper has emailed us with the very sad news that her grandmother passed away last month.
Joyce had fallen in her garden and broken her hip – a few weeks later she died in hospital from complications in her recovery.
Joyce was 97.
Joyce was born Joyce Awbery in 1923 and was a Land Girl during the war. She joined up with her best friend Betty and they were stationed together at Stirch Farm in Byfield.
– Emily Hooper.
Joyce had fond memories of life as a land girl and would entertain her granddaughters for hours with stories of the scrapes that her and Betty got into. Everyone always said she should write a book!
She and JN-Dog’s Bomb Aimer Jim Hooper met after the war, while Jim was still serving in the RAF as an instructor.
They married on the 26th of March 1951.
After de-mobilisation, Jim returned to work for BT (British Telecom) as a telephone engineer and they lived in the village of Woodditton, East Cambridgeshire, just south of Newmarket.
They had 2 sons, Garnet and Nick.
They lived in the same house in Woodditton for over 60 years – Ken Peck described Jim and Joyce to me as “the best neighbours ever”.
– Ken Peck.
Sadly Jim became ill at around age 90.
Noel Ridley (Jim) Hooper passed away peacefully on the 14th of August 2013, aged 93 years.
After Jim had gone, Joyce lived by herself in the family home, but Emily says that her grandma was able to continue to do and enjoy all the things that she loved, right up to the end. Her garden was her pride and joy and she could never walk past a weed without pulling it up!
Joyce was much-loved by her grand-daughters (Nick’s daughters) Emily and Abigail who thought that Joyce never lost her glamour or her sense of fun. Emily says that Joyce was loved by everyone who knew her, and the sparkle in her eyes is evident in the photo that she supplied (top).
She very much enjoyed the surprised look on people’s faces when she told them she was 97!
Joyce Hooper passed away on the 13th of May 2020.
To the family, her passing feels like the end of an era.
They were an amazing generation and we can only imagine what they went through and marvel at what they achieved.
Rest in peace Joyce.
On behalf of the rest of the JN-Dog family, we send our condolences, love and best wishes to the Hooper family.
Thanks to Emily and Abigail Hooper for their help in putting this together.