By Natasha Fujimoto
AS soon as you meet the petite but ever so delightful Joyce Oxenbury, you cannot help but be won over by her charmingly forthright manner.
Having celebrated her 100th birthday on Saturday, November 26, Joyce is an exceptional storyteller with bright, sparkling eyes able to narrate every memory with crystal clarity and chucklesome humour.
A mother of two with seven grandchildren and one great-grandchild on the way, Joyce was once a dedicated nurse come midwife.
Born ‘on the other side of Euroa’ in Ruffy and having gained her nursing credentials in Wangaratta, Joyce was but ‘an innocent country girl’ when she was transferred to a hospital in Sydney at the end of the second world war.
Recalling the camaraderie and experiences with fellow nurses jovially, Joyce related a tale of life-saving ingenuity with greater solemnity.
“During a heatwave at the hospital in Sydney, we had all these prem babies to look after. There was no air-conditioning in those days, so we had to hang up wet sheets and blow a fan on them. This is the way we saved them all,” Joyce said.
A once fervent golfer in her youth, Joyce is now an avid gardener and sewing enthusiast who generously repairs clothing for her fellow residents and staff at Mercy Place Residential Aged Care.
A onetime volunteer for St Vinnies and Mercy op-shops, Joyce is well known for her warm heart and generous spirit.
Lifestyle support worker at Mercy Place, Johanna Christenson said, “I knew Joyce when she was a nurse, and I was a young mother. She was then and is today, the kindest, most generous person I think I have ever known, and I think everyone here feels the same. We all love her!”
