Sue Joyner dedicated her life to helping others in the Hingham area. By Nick Richards
Tributes have been paid to a former teacher, volunteer and community stalwart who has died at the age of 79.
Sue Joyner lived in Hingham for more than 40 years and was well known as a teacher in the surrounding area as well as a volunteer with a number of Norfolk charities.
Born in Filey, North Yorkshire in 1940 and educated in nearby Bridlington, Sue left her beloved Yorkshire in 1958 to attend Cambridge University where she studied for a degree and later a PHD in biology, going on to find employment at Cambridge University Research as an entomologist.
Her love of wildlife and biology led to books being published about her important research and subsequently into a career in teaching.
In 1971 she moved to Norfolk and started working at Blyth-Jex school as a biology teacher shortly after the Blyth and Jex schools merged. Sheleft in 1974 to start a family with son Tom arriving that year, followed by daughter Chloe in 1978.
In 1986 she returned to work, taking up Norfolk's call for teachers to convert from secondary to primary teaching to resolve a countywide shortage as son Tom, 45, explained.
He said: "Mum went back into teaching and taught at numerous schools in the Hingham area and would have been well known to many mums, dads and children. She was at Attleborough First, Watton Junior, Saham Toney Primary and spent more than a decade at Toftwood Infant School. Before retiring she also taught for several years at Morley Primary School."
She was a keen cricket fan, playing for Cambridge University in her youth and regularly followed the sport on the radio, along with listening to The Archers. As well as her teaching, son Tom said she was well known for her charity work.
He said: "Many people will know her for her kindness, humbleness and her willingness to always help out and volunteer, whether it was baking at fetes or church bazaars in Hingham or her links to several good causes.
"After retiring she continued her teaching theme by volunteering at Hingham Primary School to read to younger children for more than 10 years and she was also a weekly volunteer for the Riding for the Disabled charity (RDA) for many years.
"She also volunteered at her local church, St Andew's in Hingham climbing the hundreds of steps up and down the church to raise the different flags on the many flag days held by the church."
She was also a volunteer at The Otter Trust at Earsham near Bungay and enjoyed all wildlife, exhibitions and museums.
In 2017 she left Hingham and moved to a nursing home in Stockport and died from Alzheimer's disease on November 25.
Sue Joyner's funeral will take place on Monday, December 16 at St Andrew's Church, Hingham at 1pm. Anyone is welcome to attend.
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