Joyce Hinsley

Joyce Hinsley

Hanover, NH - Joyce Therese Hall Hinsley, 92, passed away peacefully at her home on November 30, 2025, surrounded by her family.

Joyce was born on November 9, 1933, in Hartford, CT to Charles Henry and Mary Catherine (née Glynn) Hall. She attended Mount St. Joseph Academy in West Hartford, CT and St. Joseph College, where she received her bachelor's and nursing degrees in 1955. Joyce began her career as a visiting public health nurse in Hartford, in the midst of a major flu pandemic. On August 24, 1957, she married John William Hinsley at Hartford's Our Lady of Sorrows Church. Shortly after the birth of their third child, John was stricken with polio, and Joyce became his primary caregiver. John credited his wife with saving his life, allowing his partial recovery from polio and eventual return to normal life. In 1963, the family moved to Hanover, NH, and Joyce and John went on to parent three more children. The six Hinsley children, all avid swimmers, water-skiers, and downhill skiers, could be found at the Karl Michael pool, on Squam Lake, or at the Dartmouth Skiway. Joyce volunteered at the Ray School and the Ford Sayre ski program.

In August of 2007, Joyce and John celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary with a signature Hinsley lobster feed at their home on Lyme Road, surrounded by family and friends. Two months later, John passed away shortly after he and Joyce played their last game of cribbage. In the years following John's death, Joyce attended daily mass, tended to her gardens, read voraciously, and traveled with her family. She particularly enjoyed traveling internationally with her dear cousin Susan McCarthy. In 2020, Joyce moved from Hanover to Orford, NH where she oversaw the renovation of a waterfront home on the Connecticut River.

Joyce was a devoted grandmother to twelve grandchildren who have fond memories of eating "Grammie McMuffins" at her kitchen counter, going to the Montshire Museum, and sitting on her lap during mass at St. Denis or the Weston Priory. Joyce's great-grandchildren, who joined the family in 2017 and 2021, were a source of unabashed joy, inspiring her to double down on her robust commitment to environmentalism. While bagging vegetables into reusable mesh bags, she declared to fellow shoppers, "I have a great-grandson, and he needs a viable planet on which to live."

One of Joyce's passions was caring for the sick and dying. She was drawn to the plight of sufferers of Alzheimer's and dementia, and tended to the needs of their families. Joyce served as the Staff Development Coordinator at Hanover Terrace before co-founding, with her friend Marsha Biggs, the first adult daycare in the Upper Valley, The DayBreak. She also held positions at Kendal at Hanover and Valley Regional Hospital, in Claremont. At the age of 85, Joyce participated in the establishment of Hanover's Community Nursing Services and served on its inaugural board. Joyce also served on the board of Developmental Services of Sullivan County (later Pathways of the Upper Valley).

A Roman Catholic, Joyce was a parishioner at St. Denis in Hanover for more than 60 years. Her faith sustained her and was a foundation for her fearlessness. Joyce's life passions coalesced when, at the age of 87, she disregarded state guidance, donned PPE, and served as a Eucharistic minister to those dying of COVID-19.

Until her final weeks, Joyce answered the calls of the sick and the dying, as well as their families, in the Upper Valley and around the world who sought her sage medical and spiritual counsel. Joyce was a strong advocate and supporter of home hospice care, and her family honored her lifelong wish to be cared for by her children and grandchildren at home during the end of her life.

The Hinsley family matriarch, Joyce was a devoted and loving wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, aunt, and friend of her community. She will be remembered for her quick wit, advocacy for the suffering and marginalized, strong faith, and steely determination.

Joyce is survived by her six children: John W. Hinsley Jr. of Lunenburg, MA, James W. Hinsley of Ocoee, FL, Mary C. Hinsley of Dover, MA, Charles H. Hinsley of Fairlee, VT, Michael C. Hinsley of Lyme, NH, and David M. Hinsley of London, England; her twelve grandchildren: Jennifer, Erica, Hannah, Connor, Bronson, John III, Matthew, Liam, Myung, Aiden, Abigail, and Sarah; and her two great-grandchildren, Brooks and Malia.

A requiem mass will be celebrated at St. Denis Roman Catholic Church in Hanover, NH on Thursday, December 18 at 10:00am followed by a lunch reception in the Hanover Inn Grand Ballroom. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the St. Denis Come and See Capital Campaign (www.saintdenischurch.org).