Norwood Thomas and Joyce Durrant
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Over the last year, WTVR sister-station WTKR has shared each step of the amazing love story between Virginia Beach veteran Norwood Thomas and his girlfriend from World War II, Joyce Durrant.
Unfortunately, this latest update is not a happy one. Joyce passed away earlier this month.
“Joyce was my first great love,” Thomas said through tears. “When we reunited, the old feelings rejuvenated. I had a wonderful trip to Australia… was looking forward to another one, but it didn’t happen.”
Norwood Thomas and Joyce Durrant
Durrant’s death comes a little more than a year after Thomas and Durrant reconnected on Skype.
According to Durrant’s son, she suffered a heart attack in November. Although across the world in Australia, Thomas did whatever he could to make sure he was still by her side.
“She had a phone right by her bed and I could talk to her there,” he explained.
After weeks of fighting, Joyce died at the age of 89.
As Thomas grieves the loss of his first great love, he can’t help but feel lucky. Since in Joyce’s final year he was able to reconnect with her after more than 70 years apart. First on Skype, then in person.
93-year-old Norwood Thomas and 88-year-old Joyce Durrant reunites after over 70 years.
“It was probably the greatest event in my life that finally came true,” he said.
While the devastation he feels now is overwhelming, he says the pain proves just how meaningful their love for each other was, even after all these years.
“To me it was the best experience that I have ever had. Its hard to sit here and explain to people my emotions and how I felt and how I do feel but it was wonderful,” he said.
Norwood Thomas and Joyce Durrant
Without Durrant in his life, Thomas says he will rely on their time spent together to keep him going. Specifically the memories they made on his visit.
“We went down to horseshoe bay and we took walks down there,” he recalled.
In order to pay tribute to his love, Durrant, Thomas hopes to purchase a bench on the side of a path they walked along during his visit.
