Edith Joan Rockingham (nee Wright) died April 7, 2023 in Hamilton, Ontario. She was 99.
Joan Rockingham, 99, died on April 7.
Joan will be remembered for many parts of her extraordinary life. She was born Sept. 21, 1923 in Herstmonceux, England to Alice and Thomas Wright. Growing up in Frensham, and then Caterham, southern England, she trained as a nurse during World War II.
She served first at the Atkinson Morley Convalescent Hospital in Wimbledon, and then at Westminster Hospital where she experienced the bombing of London from a window seat.
After the war, in 1948, Joan met a geologist on leave from his job in Nigeria, who she had known as a child. After a six-week romance, and a month-long engagement, Joan and Eric were married and the newlyweds flew to Nigeria.
During their nine years in Africa, moving from west Africa to east Africa and back, Joan saw a lot of the countryside from mud huts and canvass tents as Eric carried out exploration geology and Joan travelled with him and continued her nursing work.
In 1957, the couple, now with three sons, ages 4, 6, 7, moved to Canada to allow Eric to continue his geology career. Joan and Eric first moved to Sioux Look-Out, Ontario, arriving in December, and experiencing their first Canadian winter.
Later they moved with their family to a mine outside of Timmins, Ontario, then to Toronto, and then to Vancouver. Joan worked with physically and mentally challenged children, helping both Toronto and Vancouver set up volunteer organizations to support the children and their families. Later moves took them to Rio de Janeiro, Darien and Grand Junction, Colorado.
Eric and Joan were passionate travelers, and from their base in Grand Junction, where they retired, they travelled around much of the United States, visited family in Vancouver, Toronto and St. Catharine’s and flew frequently to far away lands.
In November 2015, Eric and Joan returned to Canada to spend their last years with their family. They lived in Hamilton at Caroline Place Retirement Residence. The family is taking this opportunity to express their gratitude to the staff at Caroline Place for their kindness and compassion.
Joan was predeceased in 2016 by her loving husband of 68 years, Eric, and her son, Peter who passed in 2022. She will be deeply missed by her sons, Chris and Tony; her daughters-in-law, Marg, Anne and Pam; her grandchildren, Kate, Andrew, Jennifer, Julianne, and Jamie; her great-grandchildren, Charlotte and Gregory, Ellie and Samantha, Claran, and Leela, and her many friends.
In lieu of flowers, a donation to Doctors Without Borders would be appreciated by the family.
— an obituary from Bay Gardens and Bayview Funeral Home, where online condolences may be left