Joyce Evelyn Cordner was born in Redhead Village, Cumana on July 21, 1928 to Isaac and Eldica Cordner. She was the first of eight children. She attended Anglais AC School where she completed her Primary education. At the end of primary school Joyce became a pupil teacher or monitor as they were called in those days. But, teaching would not be her passion. She accepted the Lord and was baptized as a teenager, and never deviated in her devotion to Him.

Subsequently, she left Cumana for Port of Spain where she resided with her Auntie Eugey. While there she applied to do nursing and was assigned to San Fernando General Hospital where she began her training for a career that would span most of her life. By the time she left San Fernando she was a certified nurse and midwife. Her characteristic way of working hard and paying careful attention to her patients' needs had such a profound impact on the Matron of the hospital that her younger sister, Barbara, gained favourable attention by the Interview Board when they realized that she was related to Joyce.

Her career was rich and varied with different twists and turns which fashioned her into the person that she became. From San Fernando she was sent to hospitals at Couva and then to Cedros where she continued to gain an outstanding reputation for diligence, dedication to duty and care for her patients. Such that years later, her coworkers still thought of her as a special and gifted lady. Later on, she would spend some time working in the Leper Colony in Chacachacare off Trinidad's western shore. After her service at the Leper Colony, she and two other nurses were sent to Sangre Grande. Together, the three of them worked tirelessly and became instrumental in the establishment of the Sangre Grande Hospital.

She wasn't only career driven, she also was a very loving sister to all her siblings including her adopted sisters, Patsy and Ursula. As the eldest child the income Joyce earned assisted her younger siblings in the pursuit of their careers. Patsy, her best friend and sister would say of her, "Joyce has a way of finding you whenever you were down. She would show up without warning just when you needed her most!"

Joyce Evelyn Cordner left Trinidad in 1958 to continue her nursing career in New York City. She worked as a Registered Nurse in the big city, attaining the rank of Supervisor. She would later as well enjoy the distinction of becoming one of the founders of the Hanson Place SDA Church in Brooklyn, New York.

On August 14, 1966, she married Lloyd Goodridge. In the late summer of that year, she joined her husband on the island of Great Exuma, where he was principal of Forest Public School. While there, she enjoyed three years as a housewife, on the beautiful island, interacting so closely with the people that they referred to her as their First Lady.

In 1967, she was highly commended by the people for hosting a luncheon, without much time for preparation, for the late Honourable Lyndon Pindling and his retinue, on his visit to the Great Exuma, to thank the people for having voted his party into power. He was the first black prime minister of the Bahamas.
In 1970, she returned to Brooklyn, NY, with her husband, and resumed her nursing career. As an RN, she had the unusual ability for finding difficult veins of patients needing an IV, and would be called to assist doctors and nurses when such situations arose. Never did she fail to find a "hidden" vein!

During the summer, students studying at colleges and universities outside New York City, would come into New York seeking summer employment, and worship at Hanson Place Church. Joyce would invite some of them to come to her apartment and enjoy a delicious Sabbath lunch. Needless to say she was an excellent cook.

Demonstration of her compassion for others was also seen in the manner in which, Joyce took upon herself ailing relatives, and friends, and tasked herself with nursing them back to health.

Joyce was an avid reader, and had a phenomenal memory for people and facts, that stayed with her throughout her illness. She was also a faithful and devoted wife, a loving mother, beloved sister, aunt, and a friend nonpareil.

Joyce retired in 1996, and two years later when her husband had also retired, moved with him to Palm Coast, Florida, where they became members of the Palm Coast SDA Church.

December 2017, however, was a very difficult year for the Goodridges, as Joyce spent most of that month as a patient, alternating between the Florida Hospital Flager, and the Flagler Pines Rehabilitation Center. After much ailing, she was transferred to the Grand Oaks Rehabilitation Center, also in Palm Coast, where she went to sleep in the Lord at 2:30 A.M. on Thursday, January 19, 2018.

Many hearts in Trinidad, the Bahamas, the United States and Canada are filled with sorrow at her passing. Indeed, she shall never be forgotten by those whose lives were touched by hers.

She leaves to cherish her memories: husband, Lloyd Goodridge; sisters, Janet Scott and Barbara Williams; sons, Keith and Ian Goodridge; grandchildren, Nigel and Nikeitha Goodridge, and Tony Coleman; niece, Lynette Stafford and nephew, Kenneth Cordner; and a host of other nieces and nephews. cousins: Drs. Jean and John Jones, and Beryl Lyons; sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law; friends, Patsy Lezama, Phyllis Richards, Yvonne Kinsale, Virgina Wilson, Marie Edwards; Elfreda Cumberbatch and others.

Visitation of family and friends will be held 12-2 p.m. and A Celebration of Joyce's Life will be 2 p.m., Thursday, January 25 at Palm Coast Seventh-day Adventist Church, 5650 Belle Terre Parkway, Palm Coast, Florida, with Elder Robert Hayes, officiating.