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For those of you who don’t know, this is Mrs.Joyce Marie Johnson Strange, a red lipstick wearing, full of life and laughter, blues star. At 78 years of age she was a mother, a grandmother, a great grandmother, a sister, an aunt and a cousin. At 78 years of age she was also suddenly found by her husband in their Halifax home and pronounced dead in the early morning of Thursday November 29th, 2018 due to an undetermined cause. Joyce had the voice of something out of this world- some would even claim a voice of an angel, she sang with a passion that you don’t hear nowadays, her fingers constantly brushing against instruments to make em ring with music and foot tapping rhythmically. Joyce found pleasure in the simplest of things, things like; playing cards into the early morning, scratch tickets, running errands, baking dumplings, being in the presence of her family, taking care of everyone around her (including her ailing husband who is now left behind with sadness in his eyes) and using her love for music to make it her own form of art- I swear she sang until her very last breath and a few fluffed up clouds beneath her slipper clad feet won't ever stop her. Death is one of those concepts that we can never fully wrap our heads around. It will always be a lifelong challenge to understand why the world keeps spinning round, why it continues to function and allows the days to go by, even though someone so beautiful and who embodied the word “Selfless” is no longer present. Joyce was loved by and held so much love for many people which is why I, her granddaughter, am putting together this GoFundMe page for my Nanny’s funeral expenses. Although she was healthy and full of life, she tried to prep herself and her family for when it was time for her to pass by covering her own expenses with some money from her pension plan. In doing so she unknowingly only pre purchased her grave marker and burial plot but nothing else, ultimately leaving her immediate family with an outstanding bill of $6,000 that, unfortunately, because of the suddenness and no record of health issues, we had no time to prepare for. I was so moved by just the opportunity to have known her and to have such a close unbreakable bond with her that I feel that she deserves this. It’s her turn to finally rest and my turn to step up and try my best to find a way to help cover her funeral expenses. That being said, my family is in a time of mourning and we are in need of money to help cover just the “Basic” Funeral Package costs. Anything truly helps, whether it be a dollar, a prayer, a share or just kind words- everything is more than appreciated.


Mrs.Joyce Strange will be laid to rest this upcoming Friday December 7th, so if you are interested in making any donations to help celebrate the life of Joyce, any time before her burial would be amazing, though, we will also be leaving the GoFundMe page open longer than her burial date for payment planning reasons.


Also please note that Trena Flint (My mother), youngest daughter of Joyce, will be in charge of all donations that come through this page considering she is handling all the planning and financial areas of her dear mother's funeral.


And lastly, on behalf of the family and my Nanny, I thank you all for your time and understanding.


Lots of love, Emmadi Simmonds