Celebrations of any kind have been particularly hard since the coronavirus pandemic began, but that didn’t stop the family of one Ipswich centenarian.
Joyce Pegg was born in Ipswich in 1920 and grew up in the nearby village of Bramford.
She lived there for the majority of her life before moving to Shaftesbury House Care Home resident in Ipswich.
She attended Bramford school and was the middle child of ten in her family.
“She is a Bramford girl through and through,” said Mrs Pegg’s son, Richard Pegg.
During the Second World War, Mrs Pegg worked at the Marconi wireless factory in Chelsmford to help the war effort and later at Reavell’s engineering works in Ipswich as a lathe turner.
It was during the war, in 1943, that Mrs Pegg married her husband Bertie Pegg.
The couple enjoyed gardening and regular trips to Jersey in the Channel Islands.
They had two children, Marian and Richard, five grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
Bertie died shortly after the couple’s 70th wedding anniversary in 2013.
Mrs Pegg should have been celebrating her landmark birthday surrounded by her friends and family.
However, with restrictions in place because of coronavirus, her family decided to bring a special socially distant celebration to her instead.
“We had to really think about what we could do,” said Mr Pegg.
“We couldn’t just let an event like that go past.”
With balloons, a banner and a lot of singing, a group of Mrs Pegg’s relatives gathered outside of the care home to make sure she didn’t feel forgotten on her special day.
“She did not know it was happening we kept that to ourselves,” said Mr Pegg.
Mrs Pegg was able to join in with the celebrations from the safety and comfort of her own bedroom.
“She was thrilled,” said Mr Pegg.
“I don’t think we have had the family together like that for some time.
“She was really excited.”
As is tradition, Mrs Pegg was also pleased to receive her letter from the Queen - which she added to her collection, having previously received correspondence from Her Majesty on her 70th wedding anniversary.
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