Sheffield Woman of Steel Joyce Lawler dies aged 99

Joyce Lawler died on April 25 at the age of 99 at her home in Frecheville, and her funeral took place at Hutcliffe Wood Crematorium on May 18.

Her death was unrelated to the coronavirus.

Joyce lived and worked through the war in Sheffield and was a Woman of Steel, working at English Steel.

During the war Joyce was an overhead crane driver, lifting large gun barrels and steel billets.

Her son Graham said that she was extremely proud of her role doing this as her contribution to the war effort, knowing that Fred, her husband, was serving in the Royal Engineers in France.

Fred was a veteran of both Dunkirk and the Normandy landings.

He died in October 2003.

The picture supplied by the family shows Joyce standing proudly next to the Women of Steel statue outside the City Hall in November 2016.

The statue, created by sculptor Martin Jennings, was unveiled in front of an audience of 3,000 including more than 100 Women of Steel in June 2016.

The statue, which was the culmination of a Star-backed campaign by the women to get their contribution to the war effort officially commemorated, celebrates the hard work of the women who came into the industry in both world wars.

The family still have Joyce’s identity card for her time at English Steel.

Joyce was the last remaining daughter of five children.

She married Fred during the war and had two sons, Graham and Martin.

Graham and his wife Liz have two daughters, Kate and Ruth, and two grandchildren, Max and Sophie.

Martin’s children are Matthew and Bryony and Joyce’s other great grandchildren are Evie, Charlie and Joey and Martin’s adopted son, Peter.

Matthew and his family live in Australia, as does his son Peter.

After the war, and bringing up their sons, Joyce eventually returned to work at Marks and Spencer’s, and then working as a home help in Sheffield until she retired.

From the late 1950s Joyce and Fred enjoyed summer holidays abroad well ahead of the norm of the time for foreign travel, said Graham.

He recalled that his parents’ first adventure involved flying to Belgium in an ex-military vehicle transporter, sporting canvas seats and visible pop rivets!

In later years Joyce still enjoyed travelling to Graham and Liz’s house in France several times a year.

She also enjoyed going to a club at St Cyprian's Church in Frecheville to meet friends, until her frailty prevented those outings.

She also loved listening to music, Russell Watson being one of her favourites, said Graham.

Joyce’s younger brother Ken Bromley worked as a reader with the Sheffield Telegraph for the whole of his life, and Joyce’s husband Fred was a night messenger, also with the Telegraph, after taking early retirement from Jessop-Saville Steel.