JOY TAIAROA MCCREATH (REID)

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JOY TAIAROA MCCREATH (nee REID) 1915 - 2018 Joy Taiaroa McCreath passed away peacefully in her 104th year on July 10, 2018, at Winnipeg, Manitoba. Born June 27, 1915, to George Walter Reid and Constance Taiaroa Strack in Dunedin, New Zealand, Joy was predeceased by her husband, Dr. Norman "Digger" McCreath and by her daughter Robin Louise (Lansdown). She is survived by her two sons, Dougal Reid McCreath and Peter Strack McCreath, and by her seven grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. Joy was immensely proud of her family and of all of their achievements, and their love, respect and support was her constant source of joy. Joy studied chemistry at Otago University in New Zealand, then taught Home Science at Dannevirk High School in the North Island before marrying Norman McCreath in 1939. The Second World War interrupted their lives as Digger joined the Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force in Egypt. In 1946 they immigrated to England with their two young children, Robin and Dougal, residing in Bickley, Kent, where their second son Peter was born. The family moved to Winnipeg in 1954 for Digger to pursue new opportunities in medicine, and where Joy lived for over 60 years. Joy loved classical music, bridge, going to RehFit and, above all, the family cottage at Farlane, Ontario, where her ashes will be scattered. The family has lost their matriarch, but her legacy lives on through them, in the values and love that she instilled in them, and in all the wonderful memories we have of Joy, our mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and friend. A special thanks to Joy's longtime friend and guardian angel Hazel Blennerhassett for her unwavering support. Mothers hold their children's hands for just a little while, and their hearts forever.

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Jul 14, 2018