BUHR (Gornall), Elizabeth Joy
August 10, 1928 - March 24, 2024. In the care of JA Snow Funeral Home Elizabeth Joy Buhr, age 95, of Halifax, passed away on Sunday, March 24, 2024.
In her own words: “Born in England, Joy was the daughter of the late Captain Laurence Guest Gornall and Daynel Mary Joy (Wheatley) Gornall. She was born in the home of her grandparents, Gilbert Wheatley and Annie Margaret (Posnett) Wheatley, while her father was posted to his ship, HMS Repulse, in Hong Kong.
She was educated at home while the family lived in Valetta, the naval base in Malta, and later in Cape Town, South Africa.
Joy returned to England in 1943, at the age of thirteen, on a British troop ship which also carried three thousand Italian and German prisoners of war from North Africa. She attended Roedean School, which at that time was evacuated to the Lake District in England, and spent holidays with her family in London, as her father was posted to Combined Operations. Nights were spent hidden from the threat of bombardment.
In 1949, Joy graduated from the School of Occupational Therapy in London and was asked to join a small group of OTS to work with the US Zone in Bavaria, Germany. The World Health Organization needed OTS to work in hospitals caring for Displaced Persons from Eastern Europe.
When the International Refugee Organization program ended, she decided to join friends in Canada, working in three different hospitals in Ontario. In 1952, she met her husband, Dr. Alvin J. Buhr, then a resident in surgery. For the next ten years, they moved between Canada and the U.K., where Alvin completed his training as an orthopedic surgeon, before settling in Halifax, NS.
They were blessed with four wonderful children, Christina, Gavin, Roderick, and Vanessa. When the children were of school age, Joy was able to volunteer at the Children’s Hospital, the Help Line, and Meals on Wheels. She also studied for a time at Mount St. Vincent University and had a special interest in Gerontology. In later years, the couple took many rewarding trips to the Far East and the Caribbean, where Alvin worked for Canadian Orthopedic Overseas.”
Joy was a beautiful, talented, keenly intelligent, and elegant lady in every way. Well into her nineties, with her head held high, she was still walking her beloved longhaired dachshund, Magie. She was courageous both in living her life and in reaching the end of it, choosing to die on her own terms, with dignity and grace, surrounded by springtime flowers, gorgeous music, and her dearly loved children.
Joy deeply loved her late husband, Alvin.
Those left to mourn, and who will cherish her memory always, are her children, Christina Kowalec (Alan), Winnipeg; Gavin Buhr, Vancouver; Roderick Buhr (Carolyn), Halifax; Vanessa Buhr-rountree (Eric), Halifax; sister Clarissa Fletcher (Michael), Kew, London, England; brother Christopher Guest Gornall (Belinda) along with Elodie and Laurence, Bath, England; grandchildren Kyle, Miranda (Johann), Max (Kaarina), Douglas (Whitney), Graham, Nicholas, and Christopher; great-grandchildren Ethan, Hyla, Noah, Benjamin, and Sofia. Joy is also survived by devoted nieces, nephews, cousins, and their families, along with dear friends both near and far.
We would like to thank the medical staff of the Dartmouth General Hospital and, in particular, the MAID doctors who showed such compassion and respect towards our dear mother. At Joy’s request, there will be no service. A private gathering will take place when flowers are in full bloom.
In lieu of floral gifts, if you so wish, donations can be made to the Dartmouth General Hospital Foundation at or to Doctors Without Borders/médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) at: https://www.doctorswithoutborders.ca/ways-to-give.
Online condolences can be made through JA Snow Funeral Home at: https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/ halifax-ns/elizabeth-buhr-11725526
"Love is the divinity who creates peace among men and calm upon the sea, the windless silence of storms, repose and sleep in sadness. Love sings to all things who live and are, soothing the troubled minds of gods and men." —Elizabeth Goudge