Helen Joy Davidman (1915 - 1960)

Born 18 Apr 1915 in Bronx, New York, New York

Ancestors

Wife of Clive Staples Lewis — married 23 Apr 1956 in Oxford, England

Died 13 Jul 1960 at age 45 in Headington, Oxford, England

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Biography

Joy Davidman is Notable.

Helen Joy Davidman (1915-1960)

Poet, author, wife of author C. S. Lewis. Born Helen Joy Davidman in New York City, the daughter of immigrant Jewish parents who valued education. An outspoken feminist who embraced Communism, she published her first book of poems, "Letters from a Comrade" in 1938, for which she was awarded the Yale Young Poets Award. Her first novel Anya was published in 1940, while she was working at MGM studios as a screenwriter. Her second novel, Weeping Bay, was published in 1950. She married William Gresham in 1942, and had two sons. During her troubled marriage she began reading the work of author C.S. Lewis, which prompted her conversion to Christianity. She divorced her husband and settled in England with her sons in 1954. There she began a close friendship with Lewis that grew into something much more. The two were secretly married in a civil ceremony in 1956, but they maintained separate homes. Soon the rumor mills were working overtime about Lewis' daily visits to Joy's home. Lewis made plans to move her into his home, "the Kilns." When Joy was diagnosed with cancer later that year, Lewis announced to the public that they were married, and made plans for a religious ceremony. They were married again while Joy was in the hospital on March 21, 1957. Joy went into remission and her health improved enough for her and Lewis to have four happy years together, travelling and enjoying life at the Kilns. Joy died in considerable pain at the age of 45, and was cremated as per her request. Her ashes were spread over the crematorium's rose garden. C. S. Lewis wrote A Grief Observed in response to her death, and published it under a pseudonym. Her memorial epitaph was written by her husband:

Here the whole world (stars, water, air,

And field, and forest, as they were

Reflected in a single mind)

Like cast off clothes was left behind

In ashes, yet with hopes that she,

In lenten lands, hereafter may

Resume them on her Easter Day.^[1]

Genealogy

Helen Joy Davidman was born in New York in 1915.^[2] She was the daughter of Joseph Isaac Davidman and Jeannette Spivack. She lived with them in the Bronx, New York City, and was counted with them on the census in 1930^[3] and 1940.^[4]

She married William Lindsay "Bill" Gresham in New Hampshire in 1942.^[5]

Two children of the marriage:

1. David Lindsay Gresham (1944)
2. Living Gresham (c.1946)

She married Clive Staples Lewis in Oxford, England in 1956.

Joy Davidman Lewis died in Oxford, England in 1960.^[2]

Sources

1. ↑ Biography by Find-a-Grave user Kristen Conrad: https://www.findagrave.com/user/profile/4768226
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} "Find A Grave Index," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVV9-1426 : accessed 10 June 2015), Helen Joy Davidman Lewis, 1960; Burial, Headington, City of Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, Oxford Crematorium; citing Find A Grave: Memorial #8026820, www.findagrave.com.
3. ↑ "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X76F-XHJ : accessed 9 September 2018), Joy Davidman in household of Joseph I Davidman, Bronx (Districts 501-750), Bronx, New York, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 601, sheet 2B, line 93, family 61, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 1486; FHL microfilm 2,341,221.
4. ↑ "United States Census, 1940," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KQBY-CM9 : accessed 10 June 2015), Helen Joy Davidman in household of Joseph I Davidman, Assembly District 8, Bronx, New York City, Bronx, New York, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 3-1462, sheet 3A, family 46, NARA digital publication T627 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012), roll 2498.
5. ↑ "New Hampshire Marriage Records, 1637-1947," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FL8R-GDL : 4 November 2017), William Lindsay Gresham and Helen Joy Davidman, 24 Aug 1942; citing Peterborough, Hillsborough, New Hampshire, Bureau of Vital Records and Health Statistics, Concord; FHL microfilm 2,293,016.

See also:

• Wikipedia: Joy Davidman
• Wikidata: Item Q465594, en:Wikipedia