Interview with Dorothy Joyce Ockenden.
(OHInt-0403-3)

Dorothy Joyce Ockenden, known as Joyce, was born in 1915 in Lyall Bay. Outlines family background. Describes mother, Flora Ockenden, nee Stephenson, and father Richard Ockenden, who moved to the area in 1910 looking for building work and built many houses in the area. Refers to father's love of music and his gramophone group and record collection.

Describes childhood home in Queen's Drive and gives details of rooms, meals and furniture made by father. Describes mother's housekeeping - cooking and making soap, preserves and clothing. Recalls the effect of the 1918 flu epidemic and refers to the artillery camp on Rongotai peninsula during World War I. Talks about her sisters Gwen Grono and Nola Tillick. Mentions parents' musical evenings and their 500 (card game) evenings to fundraise for the National Party. Describes social life as being mainly based at home or at church or school functions.

Describes the neighbourhood and friends. Mentions gravel roads, the flying boat and birthday parties. Gives details of frequent visits to the Centennial Exhibition in 1940 and the influx of visitors to stay. Comments on having no alcohol at home and her father's smoking. Outlines her education at Lyall Bay Primary School and Wellington East Girls' College, recalling teachers, open fireplaces and picnics. Recalls the effect of the Depression. Refers to property developers Mr Stellen and Fred Boyd and their families and the Hope Gibbons family. Describes the local shops, including those owned by her father such as the fish and chip shop run by the Letica family and the bootmaker Mr Jenkins. Details changes in the shopping area. Recalls milk deliveries, the postal service. Describes cleaning the copper gas califont.

Talks about the goitre and thyroidectomy which delayed her being accepted for nursing training and after registration working as a general nurse, a midwife and a Plunket nurse and at Calvary Hospital for 16 years. Discusses nursing mother at home and the effect on her own life.

Describes changes in the house at 99 Queens Drive, including replacing the Marseilles tile roof and her pride in the house and garden. Mentions her 21st birthday party on the Lyttelton ferry. Discusses her lack of education about sex and menstruation. Describes her reaction to the loss of the post office in Lyall Bay and her confrontation with Richard Prebble. Mentions Robert (Bob) Semple, Labour MP for Miramar for many years. Describes recent changes in Queens Drive and her sadness about changes in the old family home. Describes father's concreting and mentions Mrs Pie's shop. Discusses houses built by father and move to another house in Queens Drive in 1962 and current home in 1985 - both houses were built by father. Talks about her attraction to Lyall Bay and being 'a Lyall Bay person'. Mentions the airport.