The most wonderful mother and grandmother, Joyce, recently passed away. We are raising money for a charity that has always been very close to her heart.

We would like to share her story and why this charity has always been important to her.

To do so, we feel like we need to start at the beginning...

Joyce was born in Alexandria, Egypt, on 06 December 1930, to Charles Philip Miller (RAMC) and Dorothy Lucy Miller. She had 3 brothers, Tony, Wilfred and Derek.

Joyce and her family returned to England in 1936 and she grew up in Barnet, London.

As she grew up and got older, it was clear Joyce had travelling in her bones.

At aged 17, in 1947, she lied about her age to get a job on a cruise ship as a waitress (she said she was 21!). She travelled around the world and met some famous faces.

Later in life, she returned to the UK to work, and whilst working at a NAAFI on an RAF base at Wittering, she met John Aslett, who was a military policeman doing his national service.

Joyce would smuggle extra food out of the window to John whilst he was on patrol.

They married on 28 March 1955 at Barnet Church and their son, Tim, was born on 14 August 1961. John and Joyce lived in Cranham for 40 years.

They had a wonderful and colourful life together, full of travelling, friends and family. They were very involved in the community.

Sadly, John became unwell with Parkinsons. Joyce cared for John for around 10 years (whilst also caring for her elderly mother, who lived to the grand age of 101 (just shy of 102)).

Joyce was very involved in the local Parkinsons charity and group, in which the group had regular meetings, arranged days out and gave each other support when things got hard.

John later passed away on 03 June 2002 (the Queen's Golden Jubilee).

The local Parkinsons group was an important part of Joyce's life when John was unwell and provided her with a lot of support.

Joyce cared for John whilst he was unwell and, after his passing, Joyce did not give up and cared for the rest of her family, including her son, Tim, and two grandchildren, Emma and John, throughout the rest of her life.

(She was doing the school run up until she was 80!).

Joyce sadly passed away on 25 February 2023, some 20 years after John.

We are holding Joyce's funeral on 28 March 2023, which will be the 68th wedding anniversary of Joyce and John.

We will celebrate their life together, the support and love Joyce has given to her family throughout her life, and raise money for a charity that holds dear to her heart.

Whilst we are grateful for the offers to send flowers, we would like to suggest that donations be made to Parkinsons UK.

What is Parkinsons?

Parkinsons is a progressive neurological condition. This means that it causes problems in the brain and gets worse over time. 

Those that suffer with Parkinsons do not have enough of the chemical dopamine in their brain because some of the nerve cells that make it have died.

Around 145,000 people live with Parkinsons in the UK and it is the fastest growing neurological condition in the world.

We can tell you first hand that Parkinsons is not something that is easy to live with and it can be very difficult for the loved ones caring for someone with Parkinsons too.

A small donation can go a long way, and we hope that we can raise some money - however big or small - for this charity that it very important to us as a family.

May Joyce and John rest in peace, forever, together.