Joan Joyce Campbell

Joan Joyce Campbell  

February 23, 1933- December 31, 2025

Joan was the baby and only daughter of Jack and Lauretta Doyle.

Beautiful & precocious, she was a challenge to her parents but remained close to them throughout their lives.  She and Archie welcomed her Dad into their home after her Mom passed until he passed.  Her wish towards the end of her life was to return to Windsor and enjoy a home cooked dinner with them on Dufferin Street with a big slice of her Mom’s apple pie for dessert.  To Joan, those early days and high school at Kennedy Collegiate was the best of times.  In the spring of 1951, she fell in love with a young & dapper Archie Campbell.  They danced to the newly released Nat King Cole’s “We’re Not Too Young at All”.  They married that September with that tune as their song.  She had David and Patricia by the time she was 20.   Joan was a stay-at-home Mom in Windsor where her French-Canadian neighbours and her parents helped her cope with laundry and life while Archie worked to barely support them.  She never did develop a love for domestic duties but always kept a lovely home.  Clayton came along 5 years later when times were a bit easier.  Archie and Joan had then purchased a post war bungalow in the suburbs with the help of Aunt Nellie and Uncle Archie.  In the late 50’s the neighbourhood was full of kids and stay-at-home Moms for Joan to hang out with.  Archie got a job across the River and subsequently the family was transferred to Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1966.  Joan blossomed there; money was not so tight and the kids more independent as away for full days at middle school & high school- Joan went back to school, finished her high school credits, and went on to attend college with her kids.  Joan enjoyed our trips to Florida and joined Neil and Mary in having Christmas in Florida.  She loved the whole family spending the day on the beach & the occasional trips to Helen Tyson’s shop.  Joan was a self admitted news junkie her whole life.  During the volatile 60’s and 70’s Joan led the family in her interest in politics.  She had us watching the evening news every evening and discussions of black activism, equality, the Viet-Nam war made for discussion at the dinner table.  She made us feel very connected to current events.  Dave got notice of a low draft number with an immediate plan to return to Canada.  They ended up in Toronto & went on to build their house in Mississauga.  With its views of the Credit River and the backyard pool, Joan deemed that house her dream home.  While living there, Joan finally successfully lobbied Archie that she should go to work.  It was here with Clay in high school and Dave and Pat off to university in the 70’s where she started her career in insurance underwriting.  She enjoyed the work and made lifelong friendships.  She would swim laps in that pool each morning before going to work.  She often recalled her work with fondness.  Archie and Joan enjoyed travelling during the empty nest years-and through their travels, became good friends with relatives in Scotland & England and enjoyed years of reciprocal visits.  During that time, Dave and Janet gave Joan her beloved grandchildren Scott, Sarah, and Sean.  She was a young, exuberant & generous grandmother.  When Archie’s health started to decline Pat and Mike encouraged them to join them to join them in New Westminster, BC.  Joan was given a transfer through her job and ended up signing the papers to purchase Quayside Drive.  Archie, her Dad & 2 cats followed her a few months later.  She had second thoughts about leaving her grandchildren & her beautiful house behind, but life filled in around them.  Pat and Mike had just had Kelly and Ryan followed soon after.  Clayton and Vicki added grandchildren, Andrew and Danielle.  Joan and Archie loved time with their kids and grandkids.  Their visits were the highlights of her years.  Kelly and Ryan benefitted from lots of time with their Grandparents; they had sleep overs and regular trips to Harrison Hot Springs.  Joan continued to work and eventually Archie went back to work.  Joan took up walking the whole of the Quay with friends every morning at 5:30am. rain or shine.  Eventually Archie had to retire, and Joan joined him this time.  Neil and Grace moved into the same neighbourhood and spent years being closer.  Joan also enjoyed being Auntie Joan to Alex & Sharon and Catherine and their kids.   Archie died in 2004 leaving Joan alone after 53 years of marriage.  Joan continued her daily walks, visited Kelly and Ryan after school, did Art classes, and enjoyed weekly Scrabble matches at Century House.  Family visited and took Joan with them on holidays.  She was a willing and generous participant to their travels, enjoying trips to Tofino, Victoria, Osoyoos, Arizona, Florida, Cabos, Maui, and Molokai.  She was a great travel companion and a welcoming host.  Joan always had a cup of tea, a glass of wine, enjoyable conversation, and a ready request to come back and visit on offer.  Joan would visit Pat & Mike on the Sunshine Coast and eventually moved to Gibsons.  They named their boat “Mary Joan”- the mother ship.  Joan’s paintings became limited to scenes from the Cabin deck.  She did her duties at the Sunshine Coast Nursery, helping with weeding and working the annual Mother’s Day Tea.  She travelled to Ontario and Alberta to visit grand children and great grandchildren, Nolan, Owen, and Cole.  In BC she enjoyed Kelly & Jay’s wedding and welcomed great grandchildren Keon & Killian. Sadly, she missed meeting recent addition, Harlow Joan Jennifer by a month.  Joan had a faulty heart valve & operation at 85 that she was never quite the same after.  Joan spent her last years in Gibsons; first living on her own with help at Marina Place and finally at Birch Cottage in Christenson Village.  She enjoyed continued visits from family and her former care aids; Heather and Amy & her mother, Paula and was lucky to have her elementary school friend from Windsor, Ann Gibsons, who also lived on the Sunshine Coast.  Joan was up and down in the last couple of years but was really looking forward to Christmas when she became ill in the week before her death on New Years Eve.  Joan’s motto was Lucky Me believing that her life was comprised of a series of fortunate events.  She claimed good things continually came to her, not by diligence and effort, but through a life filled with good luck. 

Please join us for a Celebration of Joan’s Life on Saturday, July 18th, from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

at the Amenity Building at Marina Place, 699 Dougall Road, Gibsons.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Joan Joyce Campbell, please visit our floral store.