Joy Bluck Waters, a well known Bermudian artist and writer, passed away at her home `Spithead' on November 22nd 2001 in her 86th year. Her funeral was held at St. John's Church, Pembroke on November 27 and was attended by many members of her family and friends.

Joy was born on September 17, 1915, the daughter of John and Marie Bluck nee Tucker. She grew up with her parents and beloved brother Johnny at the family home `Bewdley' on Richmond Road, Pembroke. In those days, Richmond Road was a private road made of natural Bermuda limestone. Her mother and father kept the grounds around `Bewdley' planted with vegetables and flower gardens, with a field set aside for the family cow and horse. At `Bewdley', Joy developed a lifetime love of gardening and animals.

All through her life, Joy loved her many cats and dogs, especially ones as `saucy' as Peter. In her last years she could often be seen swimming off the dock at Spithead in the late afternoon with her two little Jack Russell terriers.

As a little girl, Joy attended the Bermuda High School. There, she made friends for life.

After BHS, Joy sailed across the ocean to attend school at Westheath in England followed by finishing school in Switzerland and art studies at London Polytechnic.

Returning to Bermuda, the beautiful Miss Bluck was a favourite at society dances. She served as a Girl Guide leader, and she and her mother were members of the Bermuda Women's Suffrage movement. During the 1930s, Joy was the local correspondent for The Chicago Tribune.

Life in Bermuda between the World Wars was enlivened by the Royal Navy and British army stationed here. In her book on the American playwright Eugene O'Neill's years in Bermuda, she wrote about it - "British Army officers drove through the streets in carriages, their soldier servants at the reins of the horses which sported glossy coats and polished hooves. Sailors in bellbottoms in port from Britannia's seas, tacked through Hamilton. Girl's hearts throbbed to see a handsome young naval officer, in white uniform, pass along on Admiralty business, sparing them an appreciative glance from his blue eyes, shaded by the dark peak of his white topped hat." Soon, Joy fell in love with her naval officer and in 1936 she married Lieutenant Commander Joseph Palmer, RN, at St. John's, Pembroke.

As war spread across Europe, Lt. Cdr. Palmer received orders for duty in England. Joy took the dangerous transatlantic passage on a blacked-out ship, dodging German U-boats all the way, to join her husband in England. In Britain, Joy joined the Women's Volunteer Service. During the Blitz, she bravely searched bombed out areas for missing people. It was during an air raid that her first daughter Celia was born, and three years later her daughter Gillian.

Returning to Bermuda after the war on a battered, Lend-Lease destroyer with her two daughters, she entered the life of post-war Bermuda. Her second marriage was to American businessman Sumner Waters. They moved to Sands Point on Long Island, NY, and added a son, Chip, to the family. There she renewed her training as an artist. She studied at the Paul Wood Studio in Long Island and also under the instruction of Victor D'Amico at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Returning to Bermuda in the early 1960s, she began to make a name for herself as an artist both at home and abroad. For a number of years, her oil paintings were carried by Gallery Madison 90 on Madison Avenue in New York. Critics commented favourably on her work in shows at the Royal Institute of Oil Painting, The Society of Wildlife Artists and The Society of Women Artists in London, the Grand Central Gallery and the Villambreuse Gallery in France. She exhibited four times at the Paris Salon. Joy held solo shows of her work in Bermuda and at venues abroad including the British Embassy in Washington and Eastern Airlines, New York City.

Joy had a marvellous studio on the grounds of Bel Air in Paget and many Bermudians will remember the delightful painting sessions there. She encouraged many young artists, sculptor Greg Wyatt and painter Eldon Trimingham among them, to develop their talents. Joy was delighted to be invited by Mr. Wyatt to unveil his bronze statue at Stratford-on-Avon this year. She was also very active in the Bermuda Society of Arts, acting as president for several years, and in addition, served on the Bermuda Arts Council. In the late 1970s Joy bought historic Spithead, on Harbour Rd., Warwick. Once owned by Bermuda's famous privateer, Hezekiah Frith, the house had been sadly neglected over the years. Joy lovingly restored Spithead to its rightful place as one of the great houses of Bermuda. She was extremely proud of this accomplishment and the house was occasionally opened to the public through the Garden Club or National Trust. The week after her death, a group from Williamsburg were scheduled to visit.

Joy first became interested in the life of Eugene O'Neill because he lived and wrote at Spithead in the 1920s. She wrote and published her first book at the age of 77 entitled `Eugene O'Neill and Family, the Bermuda Interlude'. Her book was an instant success and sold out its first printing. She was awarded a medal for her work by the Eugene O'Neill Society in the USA as this part of O'Neill's life was largely unresearched. Her book is in several institutions of higher learning including the prestigious Eugene O'Neill Collection at Yale University.

Joy was a lifetime tennis player and a regular at the Coral Beach Club round robins for many years. In her early 70's she discovered a passion for croquet. She played in many tournaments at the great croquet lawns of America and Europe, including the US Croquet Association National Tournament. All through her 70s, she was a champion player and brought home many silver bowls and medals.

Joy painted a series of watercolours of famous croquet lawns, with a selection featured in the US Croquet Association's magazine. She held a one man shows at the Polo Club in Palm Beach, and at the Gasparilla Inn in Boca Grande. At last count her croquet watercolours were to be found in 27 private collections and at the Croquet Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island. The afternoon of her death, she enjoyed a game of croquet under a bright blue sky with her Bermudian chums at Orange Valley.

Joy Bluck Waters was an extraordinary person. A small, upright woman, she effortlessly commanded attention and respect. Her three children, her friends and acquaintances were in awe of her boundless energy, style and youthful curiosity, which she possessed right up to the moment of her sudden, unexpected death. Joy was all that was best in that great generation of old-time Bermudians who lived through two world wars and The Depression, and created Bermuda's prosperity. Their high standards of conduct, courteous manners, family loyalty, thriftiness, contempt for sloth, delight in good company, and deep love for Bermuda were the pillars of her character. Joy always made both the great and small feel happy to know her; her smile and grace the embodiment of her name.