re Joyce
November 24, 2024, 5:26 pm , by Richard Lutz
Richard Lutz pays tribute to a spirited woman who died just short of her 92nd birthday.
We said farewell to my late mother-in-law, Joyce McCrindle, earlier this month. Family and friends travelled from afar for the funeral near her Ayrshire home. There were messages too from Australia, the States…all corners of Britain.
To me, she was kind and considerate, at first intrigued that her daughter had met a young Jewish guy from Brooklyn. For the next half a century, she never faltered in her capacity for motherly and grandmotherly duties, especially during school holidays and busy times, taking my young sons camping, fishing and days out to nearby beaches or continental shores.
Her resolve was tested when her husband Robert became ill and had to leave the sea as a commercial fisherman. She returned to the classroom, while in her early thirties and with 4 children, to earn a degree and start a teaching career. She educated thousands of children not only in Scotland but also England and Spain.
In her final years, she sang throughout the day
Robert died suddenly when only 57 and Joyce then had to re-form once again, earlier than planned, to start life without a husband. She used the time well, travelling, travelling, and more travelling to India, Australia, China, the States and, also, her beloved Italy where she must have visited every church and museum from Milan to Bari. She was self-taught in many ways, especially in art history and opera. In fact, later in life in a sheltered care home, she would sing through the day well known Broadway tunes or old folk ballads from her native Isle of Man, sometimes peppered with salty lyrics that amused- or even surprised- visitors.
I was reminded of Joyce, only days after her funeral, when I dropped into The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow. It offers high standard music for implausibly good prices.
I opted for a really cheap seat at £5 a pop and found myself with a restricted view along raised terraces of the hall. I could see only half the stage. But it didn’t matter because the sound was so precise, so immaculate. There was no reasons for vision. Just pure sound. The wind based orchestra was a mix of professionals from the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and RCS students. The pros, refreshingly and selflessly, let the undergraduates from the music school do the solo parts. The composers picked were not Brahms nor Schubert but unfamiliar names: Grime, Hummel, Caplet, Schmitt.
I’d never heard of them. But Joyce, I know, would have done her homework beforehand and not only become acquainted with their compositions but their back stories too before sitting down.
She had that gift of curiosity, of restlessly wanting to know more and find out more, a skill honed in a lot of ways by her path of self-education and resourcefulness. And I’ll miss her for that.
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Martin McCrindle
Lovely!
Alan Holland
A lovely tribute, Richard. She looked so like Jane!
Over so many years you have spoken of her with great respect and affection. She had every reason to look back proudly and fondly on a full life with its shares of tragedies and triumphs, but these latter were things she could control and she did a great job
Jane and her wider family including you, are testament to that my friend. Well done. A.
wmc
We all had our reasons to be inspired by her. She was selfless and there was nothing she wouldn’t do for her loved ones. It was such a comfort she slipped away peacefully. She absolutely deserved that. Sweet dreams angel xxx
Stan Silverman
❤️
Pogus Caesar
Aha!!!
Tony Fitzpatrick
A fitting tribute with more revelations for me about dear Joyce and what drove and inspired her….and others around her.
“If there’s another world, she lives in bliss
If there is none, she made the best of this”
Robert Burns
Jane McCormack, her grand niece
❤️
A beautiful beautiful lady
Tom Lutz - grandson
I remember the fishing trip – we caught rainbow trout and had them for tea with Milky Ways for pudding.
RS/ Cornwall
a lovely tribute to a woman who clearly lived her long life to the full.
Angela
I remember her dancing at your 70th birthday party. She was the life and soul of the dance floor and I thought then what an amazing lady!
David Rendall
You were truly privileged to have such a wonderful, supportive mother in law
DK/ Boston
A long run!!!
Willie K
Joyce’s funeral service was lovely
jill schulman
I’m so sorry for her loss🙏
Bella Houston
Jane looks so like her mum
Bill O'Moseley
Very sad to learn this. Happy memories of lovely conversations with Joyce. We had the beautiful Isle of Man in common.
Bill Lutz
My fondest memory of Joyce was her visit to us in San Francisco, and her gift of an “Australia “ – emblazoned T-shirt for our then young son. He cherished it, as did his younger sister. And I cherished her for her kindness, vibrancy and straightforwardness. She lives on in her children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, neighbors, and all whose lives she touched.
Hugh Qureshi
A tribute to the power of self education
Rachel Underwood
Joyce was a remarkable lady, just like Jane and I have no doubt will be sorely missed.
Bob McCracken
I have read and reread this eulogy multiple times
Fiona Mantle
I feel like I really got a sense of her and a big part of her story. What a woman! What a life!
An Ayrshire farmer
A beautiful resting place for Joyce. Kirkoswald cemetery faces southeast so you get all the sun in the day there is
Sue McVeigh
A life well lived
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