Joyce Davis Wright passed away on November 11, 2018 in Eagle, ID after an extended illness following a fall at home. She was loved by her four children, Brad, Brent, Cathy, and Kristin as well as her seven grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. She was also beloved by her two daughters-in-law, Mary Anne Wright and Sherri Wright, and her son-in-law, Darin Weaver. She leaves behind a legacy of love and service that will carry on through the generations.
Joyce Irene Davis was born on October 21, 1930 to Joseph Hyrum Davis, Jr. and Viola Drushal. She was the youngest of three siblings, and the only girl. She grew up her entire childhood and adolescence in Salt Lake City, UT where she attended South High School and was class valedictorian and a cheerleader for the South High Cubs. She graduated at 16 and matriculated into the University of Utah in her hometown of Salt Lake. While trying to decide on what to study, her father, who taught auto mechanics at another high school, was approached at church by a member of the local stake leadership, who stated that if she changed her major to education, there was a scholarship available for her to pay for school. Her parents, living on her dad’s meager salary as a teacher, did not have the finances to pay for school, and approached Joyce about the opportunity. She quickly took it. Thus began a career and a love of elementary education. She would continue teaching 4th and 5th grade until retiring from Eastgate Elementary School in 1998.
After graduating at the University of Utah, she went down to Provo, UT to teach and do post-graduate studies at BYU. While there, she met and fell in love with Garth Wright, who was studying art. He had recently returned home from a mission for the LDS church to Norway and had also completed two years of active service with the US Marine Corps. They married on August 19, 1953 in the Salt Lake Temple. They then spent three years in CA where Garth was doing post-graduate studies at the Art Institute of Pasadena, and where oldest son, Brad, was born. Leaving CA in 1958, they settled back in Salt Lake City, where Brent, Cathy, and Kristin were born. In 1966 the family permanently relocated to Bellevue, WA after Garth took a job in commercial advertising with Albertson’s Grocery. Joyce also resumed her teaching career in Bellevue shortly after the move and spent the next 28 years teaching in the Bellevue School District.
Joyce was an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and loved serving the Lord. She was especially active in music. In college, she minored in music and had a life-long love affair with the piano as well as directing the choir and congregation at church. She also served as a stake missionary with Garth, and in the Relief Society and Primary organizations. After Garth’s death in 2001, she continued to serve as a temple worker at the Seattle Temple.
Joyce’s life can be best viewed by the great love she had for her family and her friends. Their devotion back to her is eternal. The gifts she passed on to her children, her students, and her friends will never be lost. She will be loved and honored by those she left behind and is being loved and comforted now by those who preceded her in death: Her mother, father, brothers, and husband. They are together again, never to be parted.
