"Now I lay me down to sleep". The passing of Joseph Raymond Holyoke of Fredericton and formerly of Upper Keswick Ridge occurred at Shannex Neill Hall On February 25th 2023. He was 87. Born at Upper Keswick Ridge, NB and raised on a farm, he was a son of the late Ernest Raymond and Ruby Gertrude (Lawrence) Holyoke. He was a member of the United Church of Canada (Keswick Ridge United and formerly St. Paul’s United of Fredericton).
Joe graduated from the Keswick Ridge Superior School in 1951 and the Royal Military College in Kingston, Ont in 1955 as an Officer Cadet in the RCAF. He was a 1957 UNB graduate in Civil Engineering. Upon graduation from UNB, he received the Queen's Commission in the RCAF with the rank of Flying Officer. In 1958 he was employed as an Engineering Technician with the CNR on the Gaspe Peninsula, Quebec. Over the years he worked for the Federal Dept of Transport, as an Engineering Technician on the reconstruction of the Fredericton Airport, with NBEPC on the Mactaquac project and the Dept of Natural Resources on the construction of Mactaquac Park. He retired from employment having worked with the Dept of Highways for many years, completing over 30 years of public service.
He is survived by sister Lucy Imbach of Michigan; sister-in-law Kathleen Holyoke of Fredericton; nieces and nephews Sandra, Dianne, Michael, Donna, Andrew, Carolyn, Timothy, Glenn, Cynthia, Jaye Ann, Malcolm, Heidi; cousins on his mother’s side Willard Lawrence of Saint John, Roger Lawrence of California and Velda Chase of Fredericton. Besides his parents, he was predeceased by brothers Bertrand, Tyler, Robin and Donald Holyoke; a sister Glenna Harmount; nephews Robert Holyoke, Gordon Holyoke, Laurence Holyoke and niece Patricia Ames; brother-in-laws Morris Harmount and Franz Imbach; and sisters-in-law Louise Holyoke, Edna Holyoke and Jean Holyoke; cousins Everett Kitchen, Garnet Lawrence, Leland Lawrence, Helen Burgess, Myrna Henry, Douglas Holyoke and other distant cousins.
Funeral Service will be held at Bishop's Funeral Home, 540 Woodstock Road, Fredericton, on Thursday March 2nd 2023 at 2 PM.
Interment in the Pickard-Merrithew Cemetery, Keswick Ridge on May 24th 2023 at 2 PM. Memorials to the Keswick Ridge United Church in memory of his father and mother, E. Raymond and Ruby G. Holyoke would be appreciated or a charity of the donor’s choice. "I pray the Lord my soul to keep".
