Joyce Nimmo's Obituary
Joyce Ann Nimmo was born on June 8, 1938 in Passaic, New Jersey. She is the first child of Richard (Dick) Stanley Nimmo and Eleanor Frances Goltenboth Nimmo. Joyce lived in Passaic and then Clifton, NJ until she was 8 years old. At that time, the family moved to a farm near Williamsburg, MD. During the move, Joyce rode with her grandfather, Fred Goltenboth, who sang "Show Me The Way To Go Home" along the way. Richard drove a big truck loaded with household goods. Eleanor, and little sister Christine, were in the family car leading the way.
The farm in Maryland was quite a change from their big city life. The farmhouse did not have indoor plumbing and was poorly insulated. In the winter it was very cold. Eleanor would cook on a big stove in the kitchen. Joyce and Christine would play with the geese and chickens in the yard, while Dick tended to the cows and tilled the soil. It was not long before Dick realized that he could not support his family as a farmer, so he went to work in a factory in the nearby town of Federalsburg. The factory was referred to as the "button works" because it drilled pearl buttons out of conch shells imported from Australia.
Joyce was a frequent visitor to Grandma Nina Goltenboth in New Jersey. Grandma and Joyce would visit New York City on occasion. Joyce also played with a friend across the street: Lynn Egbert.
Joyce and Christine May, who was born in 1943, were joined by brother Stanley Frederick Nimmo, born in 1951, and sister Ruth Eleanor Nimmo, born in 1952. Dick and Eleanor built a new farmhouse in 1953 and the family enjoyed a solid 5-bedroom house with all the modern conveniences. In 1954, Hurricane Hazel destroyed the commercial chicken house on the farm and scattered debris all over.
Joyce was a hard-working farm girl. She planted cucumbers on ½ acre, raised them, and sold them for money to cover the cost of her trip to Canada. She went to Canada in about 1952 because her Great Aunt and Uncle, Nora and Tommie Paterson invited her to visit. Nora was Grandma Nina's half-sister.
Joyce graduated from North Dorchester High School in 1958. Joyce was always experimenting with career choices. She attended nurses training in Salisbury, MD for a while but concluded this was not for her. She also took a welding course at Delaware Technical College long before it was accepted that women could do a job that was traditionally men's work. She worked in the local bakery, Zaffre's, for a year or so before attending the University of Maryland. These experiments helped her to choose an alternate career path.
Joyce attended the University of Maryland, College Park, MD, from 1963 until her graduation in 1967 with a B.S. degree in Agriculture. She worked part-time in in the Horticulture Lab at the university from 1963 - 1967 and thinks of it as the most satisfying job she held in her long career. Later she worked for the US Department of Agriculture Research Lab in Beltsville, MD.
Joyce changed careers and began to work in special education after completing her teacher's certificate in 1971. Her certificate was awarded by Loyola College and Salisbury State College, Salisbury, MD. She taught in Hurlock, MD for 8 years and Seaford, Delaware for 8 years. Joyce made a trip to Alaska in about 1978 and considered teaching there, but ultimately decided that this was too remote a place to live.
Joyce was also a long-term helper to her parents on the farm. As a youngster, she learned to drive a tractor and how to operate the machinery essential to farming. Joyce once slammed into the chicken house while learning to drive a truck. She enjoyed the farm work and being outdoors. Her education in horticulture enabled her to give advice to her father on planting and on controlling weeds and pests.
Joyce lived on the family farm until 2005 when she became a real estate developer. Joyce had been deeded a small farm next to the family farm by her parents many years prior. She subdivided her farm into 4 lots, sold 3, and used some of the proceeds to build her own home on the remaining lot. The house was an Amish-built 3-bedroom, single-story set back against the woodland that comprised about half of the lot. It is a home that is comfortable and features a beautiful view of farmland with a few homes nearby.
Joyce has always been a lover of animals, especially dogs as pets. She has owned cocker spaniels and a variety of shelter dogs. Each of them lived a long life and were well-cared for by Joyce.
Joyce moved to Heartfields assisted living in Easton, MD in July 2022.
Funeral services will be held at the Framptom Funeral Home 216N. Main St. Federalsburg, MD; on Tuesday September 13, 2022 at 2:00PM. A viewing will be held at the funeral home from 1:00 until 2:00PM.
Burial will be in Hillcrest Cemetery Federalsburg. Please visit www.framptom.com. For on line condolences.)
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