Beatrice Mary Joye Evans (née Williamson; 26 March 1929 – 28 August 2021) was a New Zealand guiding leader who served as chief commissioner of New Zealand Girl Guides.

Biography

Evans was born Beatrice Mary Joye Williamson in

Palmerston North Palmerston North (; mi, Te Papa-i-Oea, known colloquially as Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatu Plains, the city is near the north bank of the ...

on 26 March 1929, the daughter of Laura and John Williamson. She trained as a radiographer in the United Kingdom, and worked in the United States, where she was a member of the

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

surgical team that developed the

coronary angiogram A coronary catheterization is a minimally invasive procedure to access the coronary circulation and blood filled chambers of the heart using a catheter. It is performed for both diagnostic and interventional (treatment) purposes. Coronary cathe ...

in 1960. After returning to New Zealand, she met her future husband, town planner Morgan David Evans, and they married in 1964. The couple did not have children. Joye Evans became active in guiding in New Zealand during the 1970s when she began assisting with administration in the Manawatū region. She rose through the movement, becoming Manawatū provincial commissioner, and was elected chief commissioner of the New Zealand Girl Guides Association in 1983. In the

1988 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1988 were appointments by most of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other countries ...

, she was appointed an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

, for services to the Girl Guide movement. In 1988, Evans fell from a ladder and required two artificial hips. However, she and her husband continued their community work, including being intimately involved in the first Cancer Society Daffodil Day in New Zealand in 1990. Evans died in Palmerston North on 28 August 2021, aged 92, having been predeceased by her husband in 2012. A memorial service was held for Evans at St Peter's Anglican Church in Palmerston North on 14 January 2022, and her ashes were buried later that day in

Feilding Feilding ( mi, Aorangi) is a town in the Manawatū District of the North Island of New Zealand. It is located on State Highway 54, 20 kilometres north of Palmerston North. The town is the seat of the Manawatū District Council. Feilding has w ...

Cemetery.

References

1929 births 2021 deaths People from Palmerston North Scouting and Guiding in New Zealand New Zealand Officers of the Order of the British Empire Radiographers Burials at Feilding Cemetery {{Scout-bio-stub