The members of North Wilts Golf Club and the residents of Worton are mourning the death of Joyce Stokes, who died on April 11 aged 69 after a short battle against aggressive cancer.

Joy, as she was better known, was born in Oxford on November 25, 1951 and spent her childhood years in the city before training as a PE teacher.

She specialised in hockey, netball and swimming, and met her husband, Nick, due to their sporting interests, marrying in 1974. Following three years living in South Africa, they moved to Wiltshire in 1979 and settled in Seend.

Joy was a very popular and fondly remembered PE teacher at George Ward School - now the Oak Academy - where she ran the hockey and netball teams, and organised the School It’s a Knock Out teams which participated at the Recreation Ground in Bath.

In 1985, Joy and Nick successfully adopted their son Craig, with daughter Leigh completing the family in 1989 by which time they had moved to the Midlands. When Nick retired in 2012, they chose to return to Wiltshire where they had been so happy, and bought a house in Worton.

They both quickly got involved in village life, with Joy in particular volunteering her services for village functions, supporting village residents and fundraising.

She is probably best remembered for the exhibitions and displays she organised for the 175th Year anniversary of the village church, Christ Church, which raised significant funds for both the church and the chosen charity, Dorothy House.

She also joined Nick on the golf course at North Wilts and quickly became a popular and committed member of the ladies section. She proved a capable player, reducing her handicap from 36 to 23, winning a number of competitions and representing the club in ladies and mixed matches.

She was particularly well known for her support of her husband during his year as Seniors Captain in 2019, and together they raised more than £3000 for Prostate Cancer UK through a series of events, with Joy providing all the refreshments and cakes.

Her Welsh cakes were particularly popular.

Joy’s funeral was held on Thursday April 29. Her ashes have been buried in Christ church churchyard and the wreaths and flowers were available for viewing over the Bank Holiday