A treasured mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, Grafton resident Joyce Henderson celebrated her 104th birthday on May 11 with her loving family by her side.

Born in Glen Innes to Jack and Alice Berger, Joyce grew up alongside her siblings Merv, Enid, Joan, Eric, and Keith, and after leaving school, trained with her Aunt Queenie Jarrett as a dressmaker, making and suppling clothes to the local stores in the New England township.

At 23, she met and married Alan Henderson and moved to Sydney, where the couple welcomed daughters Robyn and Denise into their growing family.

In the late 1940s, they relocated to Lismore in Northern NSW where they built their first house together.

Joyce became the Baptist Church organist for the next 20 years and was very active within her local community.

When the Hendersons later returned to Sydney, Joyce worked at the Newtown Baptist Preschool for 17 years where she loved working with the children.

An avid tennis player, she also enjoyed square dancing, a pastime which she continued to participate in throughout her life and into her early 90s.

A very independent woman, Joyce loved her little car and continued to drive all over Sydney and beyond, only giving up driving seven years ago when she moved to Grafton to be closer to her family who lived in the region.