By Sheree Hoddinett
A splash of artistic flair, a brilliant smile and a very sunny nature, that was the persona of Joy Brown. If you have lived on the Island for many years, chances are you may have crossed paths with Joy. Not only was she well known in the art community, but also owned The Island & Mainland News and some other local magazines with her husband Rick for many years. Joy passed away on September 13, shortly after being diagnosed with motor neurone disease.
Her daughter Sandra described Joy as a kind and gentle soul, who will be greatly missed and her talents will make the world a little less special with her passing.
“Mum was a great person. She was really generous not only to our family, but everyone around her,” Sandra said. “She was a homemaker for the first eight years of my life and dedicated her time to looking after me and my younger brother Adam.
“My dad was very old fashioned and saw himself as the provider of the family so he wanted mum to be at home, but I remember she got to the point where she wanted to do more. That’s when she started doing her art and she also did cake decorating too. She was very creative.
“Mum also owned a materials shop on the Island at one point and she was doing dressmaking too. She even made my formal dress for me and things like that.”
Long before living her best life on Bribie, Joy was based interstate and was actually born in Sydney on September 26, 1946. There were tough times in Joy’s early years, the most significant being the loss of her father when she was just 13-years-old. Joy quit school and entered the workforce to support her mum. Money was tight but there was always music and singing. Her pianola was her pride and joy.
“Mum loved singing and she loved musicals,” Sandra said. “I think she felt like she was born in the wrong era and should have been back with all those beautiful big dresses and everything like that with dancing and singing around everywhere. She was also part of a performance group on the Island and really enjoyed doing musicals with them.”
But it would seem art, especially painting was a big part of her life.
“Mum was an amazing artist,” Sandra said. “I know she sold a lot of paintings around the Island, so I have no idea how many are out there, but what she did was more of a realistic style than any kind of abstract work. I was very proud of her as an artist.”
When Joy met Rick (on a double blind date), the pair were smitten with each other and married not long after they met.
“She told me a story about their first date,” Sandra said with a laugh. “Dad grabbed her by the hand and he took her down this dark alley. She said he could have been an axe murderer or anything, but she just trusted him instinctively and said she felt at home with him. They were just taking a short cut to beat the other couple they were on a date with, to play a trick on them. Mum said that was when she knew dad was the guy for her and he was lots of fun and always made her laugh.”
After years of living in New South Wales and dissatisfied with ‘the rate race’, Rick and Joy sold their house in Engadine and drove along the southern coastline of Australia to Perth, hoping to find a better life. Unfortunately, it wasn’t what they expected and a month later they returned to Sydney and decided to try going north instead. After one-and-a-half years on the road (with a nine and a five year old and no screen entertainment!) they pulled into Silver Shores Caravan park one evening and decided to stay. They had finally found home on Bribie Island and this is where they would stay.
Another big accomplishment for Joy was being the head of the committee which successfully petitioned for the high school on the Island. Life also hit Joy and Rick with some big knocks, but the hardest one of all was Rick’s melanoma diagnosis, which happened not long after they had started finding their feet again. He passed away just a few years later and Joy was devastated. Slowly she moved forward and put herself out into the world again, finding solace in music and of course, her painting.
Joy is survived by her sister, Gloria, her son and daughter, Adam and Sandra and her grandsons, Leo and Elkana. For anyone who may have missed Joy’s service on September 30, you can view it via https://www.qualitymemorial.services/joy-brown
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