Obituaries
Joyce Valerie DAVIS (nee PASSFIELD, adopted), 24 Oct 1931 - 2005
Joyce Valerie DAVIS (nee PASSFIELD, adopted), 24 Oct 1931 - 2005
Joyce Valerie Davis (nee Passfield) was born in Adelaide 24th Oct. 1931 and arrived in Macclesfield at 13 months of age as the adopted daughter of Clarrie & Myrtle Passfield. Joyce lived all her pre-married life at the Passfield farm on the Strathalbyn Road and attended the Macclesfield School.
After leaving school she worked on the family farm and played basketball for Macclesfield, including a club premiership. Joyce also enjoyed playing bowls for both Meadows and then the Strathalbyn club where she helped win the Club Champion Fours in 2000, and the Division 2 Pennant in the same year.
Joyce had enjoyed singing from a young age, especially country songs that included yodelling and was a member of the Red Cross Concert War Fund that held over 30 concerts in the Hills areas.
On the 6th of June 1951, after a 3-year courtship, Joyce married local dairy farmer Colin Davis in the Macclesfield Methodist Church. After driving past the church several times over 20 minutes with no sign of Colin, a friend went out to the farm to find Colin still doing the milking! Joyce and Colin made their home on the farm out on the Bugle Range Road, where they continued their dairy business till they retired in 1999 and moved to Strathalbyn. Due to the unfortunate stillbirth of a daughter, Gloria, in 1956, they then adopted 3 children, Steven in 1958, Gaynor in 1964 and Katrina in 1965.
After the death of her mother in 1986, Joyce finally found out that her birth mother, who raised her for the first 13 months, was still alive, had married and had 8 more children. So suddenly Joyce found she had 3 brothers and 5 sisters she hadn’t known about.
In 1958 Joyce & Colin bought 2 Stud Ayrshire Heifers and established the Joylinda Ayrshire Stud, which grew to be very successful with hundreds of exhibits at shows, including the Adelaide Royal Show and many country shows winning numerous championships. Joylinda Ayrshire bloodlines became a part of many studs here and interstate and will be represented at this year’s Royal Adelaide [2005?]. At the 1987 Adelaide Show Colin & Joyce’s Ayrshire’s won the All Breeds Pen of Three, the first time the Ayrshire breed had won in the All Breeds Section.
Colin and Joyce travelled to World Ayrshire Conferences in New Zealand, Kenya (including England & Ireland), and the USA (including England, Sweden & Canada). In 1991 Colin & Joyce organised an Australian Ayrshire Centenary Tour with over 100 people attending, coming from all over the world. After Colin’s death in 1995, Joyce continued her Ayrshire expeditions attending in Canada and the United Kingdom and rekindling her very many friendships, built up over the years.
Joyce also maintained very close relationships with her primary school friends and only a short while ago attended a party with a dozen or more women, who had all been to the Macclesfield Primary School together some 60 years ago. Although her yodelling days were over she loved to whistle still, and many of her visitors will remember her whistling away while doing the household chores.
Joyce had a very full and active life, was no wallflower, and if she took a dislike to someone they knew all about it. She always called a spade a spade, would not “gloss” anything over and had great fun ‘embarrassing’ people, no matter who they were.
Her grandsons became one of her more recent joys in life, she loved them greatly and took great pleasure in baby-sitting them.
Joyce Davis was a very kind, thoughtful, considerate and extremely generous person. She loved no more than being with her family and friends. She will be sadly missed by all those that have known her.
