Joyce Rogers was the fifth child of eight born to Joe and Hetty Botting, immigrants from England after the First World War. Joe, a British soldier, worked as a prison guard at St. Vincent de Paul Penitentiary. Money was always tight but Hetty managed to keep her brood well fed and healthy.
Joyce left school in Grade 9 because of embarrassment at not having the school fee every month, and got a job at Morgan's in Montreal modelling shoes. She fell in love with Earle Smith of Barrie, Ont., a Ferry Command navigator stationed in Montreal. Soon she was begging her father for permission to marry Earle. Joe said they could marry when Earle came back from his first overseas flight. That flight happened to be to Newfoundland, where the crew was turned back because of bad weather. Joe reluctantly gave his consent and they were married in December, 1942.
In 1943, Earle's Ferry Command unit was moved to Nassau, the Bahamas, for safer weather to fly planes to Europe. Joyce joined Earle in Nassau with her new baby, Judy. She recalled flying from Montreal, where her mother was convinced she'd never see her again, and landing in every U.S. state on the way to refuel.
After the war, Joyce and Earle settled in Barrie, where Earle worked in sales for Molson's Brewery and Joyce was a stay-at-home mom to Judy, John, Michael and Pat. Joyce was the consummate homemaker, gourmet cook, decorator and gardener. She always told her children she was two years older than she really was because she didn't want them to marry as young as she had.
In 1965, Joyce and Earle moved to Sudbury when Earle became sales manager for Northern Ontario. Joyce was upset at moving to the desolate mining city. Earle died of pancreatic cancer in 1969, leaving Joyce a widow at 42. Surprisingly, she decided to stay in her new community and became a huge booster of Sudbury and its natural beauty and cultural resources.
Within a year after Earle's death, Joyce obtained her real estate licence and soon became a successful agent. She worked for more than 30 years, eventually for her son John, who threw her a retirement party when she retired at 76.
Joyce married Doug Rogers in 1974, and they built their dream home on Lake Ramsey in Sudbury. When Joyce was widowed again after Doug died of a heart attack in 1985, she focused her life on her career, her family, her friends, the Sudbury Theatre and Sudbury Symphony.
Despite her lack of formal education, Joyce never stopped learning. An avid reader, astute investor, news and political junkie, Joyce had the ability to get to the heart of the matter and tell it as she saw it - sometimes to the chagrin of those around her. She will be missed.
Judy Yanaky is Joyce's daughter.