BOYLE, Joan (nee Dyer) September 23, 1929—0ctober 6, 2024
Beloved wife of Charles Boyle, mother of Steven and Carolyn (Jell), sister to Jack Dyer, Elmvale, auntie to niece Laura Dyer and nephew Joe Dyer.
Predeceased by Charles, daughter-in-law Judith Halladay, and parents Joseph and Sadie Dyer. Joan was raised on a farm near Elmvale, Ontario. After graduating from Toronto Teachers’ College, where she met Charles (always “Chuck” to her), the couple moved to Montreal where Joan taught Grade 1. When their own children came, she began learning traditional rug hooking. The family relocated to a I 9th-century farmhouse near Spencerville and always had fond memories of restoring the house together. Joan set up Millcroft Farm Studio there, specializing in. original rug designs, hand dyeing and teaching. She taught for the Ontario Hooking Craft Guild, Nova Scotia Rug Hooking Guild, and Green Mountain School, Vermont, among others .. She also wrote two manuals and taught at St. Lawrence College Brockville. There she developed courses for the Fibre Arts Traditional Rug Hooking Certificate program and earned her Certificate in Fine Arts. Her award-winning work was often featured in exhibits, most recently at Prescott Library in 2023. Joan greatly valued the friendships she made in the rug hooking community and continued to practice her craft with old friends and new at Walker House in Prescott. She loved historical fiction, was a dab hand at even the most challenging cryptic crossword, and enjoyed daily walks along Prescott’s RiverWalk after she and Charles moved to Mariner’s Club. Joan will be remembered as an encouraging and creative teacher whose great curiosity about life inspired both her students and her loving family.