Yes My Dear - The Life and Times of Joan Morrissey

Debbie morrissey Stafford is the eldest daughter of Joan Morrissey. At the age of sixteen she started singing with a local band in mount Pearl and entertained at high school dances. She continued singing and entertaining alongside her mother at charities and clubs around Newfoundland. She was a cast member in one of the “Slob Ice” revues held in the 1970’s at the Arts and Culture Center with her mother.

In July of 1978, just seven months after her mother’s death, Debbie produced a tribute show for her mother in the basement theatre of the Arts and Culture Center from which the proceeds were donated to the Heart and Stroke Foundation. After this show Debbie gave up singing and entertaining to devote her time to her husband and daughter.

She didn’t sing publicly again until the opening show of the Mile One Stadium in 2001, where she had the opportunity to sing with her mother once again from an old CBC television video.

Debbie now lives in Mount Pearl with her husband Frank and her daughter Tammy. She strongly believes in keeping her mother’s memory and her music alive so all Newfoundlanders, young and old, will know of her mother’s great contribution to our province’s musical heritage.