Milestone 90th birthday for Joyce
Joyce has five grandchildren and two great grandchildren.
Joyce Coetzer celebrated her 90th birthday recently with friends who organised a morning tea for her at Mbango Valley Association .
She came on holiday to Sunwich Port in 1967 with her husband Piet, who had lost a leg in a working accident in Newcastle.
Their three children, Gert, Joyce and Pieter, loved it so much they asked their parents if they could stay on the coast.
Joyce went to the Port Shepstone Regional Hospital and enquired about the possibility of a job. She was asked to start the next day!
After 33 years of service, she retired in 2000, a year after her husband died, but this did not stop her serving others.
Joyce then drove the older folk to Southport clinic or to the hospital to collect their medication, until a few years ago.
She was born on September 20, 1935, later attending St Mary’s Convent. She loved swimming and diving, and still has her certificates.
Joyce met Piet on a blind date when she and a friend swapped partners.
They were married in Springs, where Gert would be born, in February 1955.
They then moved to Durban in 1957 where Piet worked as a carpenter in the building trade.
Their daughter, also named Joyce, was born in June 1958 and a second son Pieter in December 1960.
The family moved to Newcastle in 1961 when Piet took up a job at the power station.
His accident happened in 1965 and the family initially moved to Delmas to stay with family on a farm.
In 1966 Joyce started nursing in Delmas to support the family.
The following year they moved to the South Coast, living in Anerley (and various other places in the area) until eventually buying the flat in Goodlands Road.
Joyce has five grandchildren and two great grandchildren. Her son Pieter is a dental technician in Durban and her daughter Joyce lives in the Free State.
At the morning tea, Joyce was presented with a beautiful booklet, compete with messages and photos.
She still lives in her flat, on her own, looking after herself. Her son Gert pops in every day to see if she needs anything.
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