Carolyn Joy Chambers-Grundy (1947-2023)

Carolyn Joy Chambers, was born in Ipswich, growing up in Idolwood Street, Eastern Heights.

In 1965, she was named the inaugural Miss Surf Girl by Queensland Surf Life Saving Club.

Joy Chambers married media mogul Reginald (Reg) Grundy in 1971. She was an actor, author, poet, businesswoman and philanthropist. Joy Chambers maintained her close relationship with Ipswich throughout her life. She was the International Patron of the Ipswich Poetry Fest for many years.

She was an Australian novelist, who starred in the Australian TV Drama "Neighbours". Her interest in poetry and literature began in childhood with her father encouraging her deep love of the English word.

Acting Roles and appearances

1967-1973:  I've Got a Secret

1976-1977:  The Celebrity Game

1977: All at Sea

1977-1978:  Graham Kennedy's Blankety Blanks

1977-1979:  The Restless Years

1981-1982:  The Young Doctors

1986-1987, 1989-1991, 1993-1998, 2005, 2010:  Neighbours

Joy received a Logie for Best Female Personality in 1969 and in 1970.

Books:

1992:  Mayfield

1993:  Outback

1994:  My Zulu Myself

1999:  Vale Valhalla

2003:  None but the Brave

2007:  For Freedom

2012:  The Great Deception

2014:  The Soldier's Choice

2014:  Caroline's War: Vale Valhalla

2015: Meant to Be - A short love story

Ipswich connection in Bermuda
There is a Reg and Joy Grundy gallery in the National Museum and a plaque at the Reg Grundy Bastion in Bermuda.

The Royal Gazette of 10 May 2016 wrote that:

His wife, Joy Chambers-Grundy, who moved to Bermuda with her husband in 1982, highlighted some of his many commitments to the island including a gift to the National Museum to carefully reconstruct Bastion E and to incorporate 20 longtail nesting boxes in the walls.

Reg Grundy died on 5 May 2015 at his home in Bermuda at the age of 92. Joy Chambers-Grundy died on 17 September 2023 at the age of 76 in Bermuda.

Street Names
Two streets in the Sekisui Estate in the Ripley Valley were named in honour of the Grundy's: Joy Chambers Circuit and Reg Grundy Street.