November 10, 1928 - June 1, 2016
Joy was born in Vancouver to Fred Tuohey and Margaret Tuohey (Morgan) in November 1928. Growing up in Vancouver Joy developed her love of horses by joining the Vancouver Saddle Club in Stanley Park in her teens. They would ride their horses across the Lions Gate Bridge and they used to like to trot past Malcolm Bowl when the shows were on. Many summers of her youth were spent at the cottage at Avalon Bay on Gambier Island. She loved to go out for a row around the bay and along the shore. Joy spent countless hours out rowing and fishing. This continued throughout her life and she shared this joy with her children and grandchildren in turn.
Joy moved to Calgary in the 1950’s and was working for CAN PET. Her love of horses grew and she competed in jumping competitions whenever she could. She married William Bookey in Calgary, their marriage was short as William died suddenly the following year. Their daughter Kathleen (Liz) Bookey was born the following January. Joy remained in Calgary where she later met and married Bill Silk. Together they had a son Brian and a few years later the family moved back to Vancouver, settling in Point Grey.
Joy had a passion for exploring which led her and her children to many unique locations throughout BC to go gold panning. This eventually lead to her decision to move to the newly created 108 Mile Ranch where she could live out her dream of having her horse right in her yard and be able to ride any time she chose. She opened her own store, Barn Antiques in 100 Mile, which she ran for 20 years. In her free time Joy was an active member of the 108 Ranch RCA, 108 Pasture manager, Greenbelt commission and the Great Cariboo Ride Society. She loved exploring, meeting new people from around the world and spending a day riding in the beautiful terrain that BC has to offer. A highlight was participating in the Ride Of A Lifetime which took riders and wagon train on a 3 week journey from 100 Mile House to Vancouver for the opening ceremonies of EXPO 86.
This passion to explore and meet new people took her on numerous vacations to England, Ireland, Mexico, Tortola, Cuba and Costa Rica. She loved to go somewhere warm and sunny and preferred the less popular locations where she could experience the true culture and people.
She never stopped loving nature, the colour in spring fields and entertaining friends. She was picking berries and wild flowers until poor health stopped her last fall. After a heroic fight with dementia and cancer Joy is finally at peace.
Joy was a mother, grandmother, and friend. She was an accomplished horse woman, sculptor, painter, gold panner, silver smith, artist and business woman and so much more. Joy is survived by her sister Doris Tuohey, daughter Liz (Rick) Jones, son Brian Silk (Tess), grand children Holly and Morgan Jones. She is predeceased by her parents, her husband Bill Silk, sister Betty and brother Allan.
Happy trails, mom.
No service will be held at her request. A family gathering will be held at a later date.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to a 4-H program.