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Drayton, Dame Joy Mary Josephine, 1916-2012 (Person)

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Obituary for Dame Joy Drayton in Bookline, 2012

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Kaitiakitanga StatementWe ask that, in addition to normal copyright and privacy considerations, users of our heritage resources uphold the mana and dignity of the people, communities and places depicted within.CopyrightStephanie SmithAcknowledgementTe Ao Mārama - Tauranga City Libraries Obituary for Dame Joy Drayton in Bookline, 2012

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AuthorSmith, StephanieTe Ao Mārama - Tauranga City LibrariesArchived Kete Linkhttps://perma.cc/8ew7-vnfzType of ContributionLibrary storyTaxonomyStories | Articles

The following obituary for Dame Joy Drayton was written by Stephanie Smith and appeared in Bookline, Newsletter of the Friends of the Tauranga City Libraries Incorporated, in November 2012 (Volume 16, Issue 2). It is reproduced here with the permission of both Stephanie Smith and then President Kate Clark.

No obituary can do real justice to such a long life so well lived. Joy's life was exceptionally full. To the end of her 80s at least, she kept up a schedule that put much younger people to shame. That is how she managed such a formidable list of roles: MA in History; teacher; headmistress; Tauranga District Councillor; BOP Regional Councillor; Deputy Mayor of Tauranga; Pro-Chancellor, University of Waikato; Honorary Ph. D, University of Waikato; trustee and director of The Elms Foundation; MBE; CNZM; DCNZM; Soroptimist; supporter and member of Tauranga Women's Refuge, Tauranga Historical Society, New Zealand Historic Places Trust, Friends of the Tauranga City Libraries and other organisations; producer of plays; rosarian; amateur painter; art collector; cat lover; genealogist; speaker of Polish and Maori; lifelong student; wonderful cook; ardent traveller.

Any activity she pursued was entered into with thoroughness and enthusiasm. She did her homework. This shows in a very literal way in the archive she left to the library.

The bulky reports she was obliged to read as a Councillor were thoroughly annotated, letters she wrote were drafted and redrafted until they were right, and the minutes of meetings she attended were kept and expanded upon if necessary. I was at many meetings with her in my role as secretary of the Historic Places Trust Bay of Plenty Branch Committee, and it was obvious in the meetings that she was always prepared and she always had an intelligent contribution to make.

Tauranga Library owes Joy a particular debt. It was to fight for an improved library service and a new building that she became a councillor in the 1980s. Without her energy it is likely that the library would have been forced to struggle and stagnate.

Such a person - conscientious, determined, authoritative, with a daunting appetite for work - can come across as worthy but dull. Joy was never dull. She had a lively sense of humour, an unstudied warmth, and a wide range of friendships across age groups and cultures. When she was the headmistress of Tauranga Girls” College she knew every student by name. She had a gift for relationships. She will be sadly missed.

by Stephanie Smith (5 November 2012), Specialist Information Librarian: New Zealand Room Tauranga City Libraries.

This page was archived at Perma cc February 2017 https://perma.cc/8ew7-vnfz

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Obituary for Dame Joy Drayton in Bookline, 2012