Joyce Carrol Gray Hanson

Our devoted and classy mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister, and friend was reunited with her husband in heaven on October 2, 2026.

Joyce Carrol Gray was born on December 27, 1932, in Salt Lake City to two wonderful parents, Thomas Lawrence Gray and Dora Annette Sander Gray. She spent her childhood on Laird Avenue, where she and her younger sister, Sandra, made lifelong friends. Joyce was born at a time of year when others were joyfully celebrating the birth of our Savior. She lived a life of joy and was a faithful and dedicated disciple of Jesus Christ.

Her childhood included tap dancing, putting on plays, writing, and the sewing classes her mother taught to the girls in the neighborhood. Her talent for sewing started with her grandmother and has been passed down to her daughters and granddaughters, creating something of love through the gift of her hands and heart.

Joyce's father and mother both worked for the Union Pacific Railroad, and the family traveled by train everywhere. She thought it was wonderful. She loved traveling with her sister to see family all along the West Coast.

Joyce met Richard Paul Hanson at a church dance when she was a junior in high school. Love sparked and grew, and they were soon engaged on her graduation night. Their engagement lasted longer than they had hoped, as Richard was drafted to serve in the Army in Germany during the Korean War. They wrote to each other every day for two years, and later thought it was a fun idea to christen the fireplace in their new home with those love letters. How we wish we could read them all now.

Richard and Joyce were married on June 26, 1953. They soon moved to the East Mill Creek neighborhood in Salt Lake City, Utah, where they raised their one son and five daughters. They continued to enjoy dancing together.

Joyce loved playing games. She grew up with games and carried on that tradition with her children and grandchildren. The quiet competition, attention to rules and her giggle while playing bound us all together.

Joyce was an active and steadfast member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She enjoyed many callings and made dear friends while serving as Primary President and in Relief Society presidencies. She loved serving in the Salt Lake Temple and hoped to attend one more time after its renovation. Her belief in the gospel of Jesus Christ is deeply rooted in the hearts of her children and all those she taught and shared with.

She took business classes at Brigham Young University and was proficient in shorthand. She worked as a secretary for a few years before enjoying life as a stay-at-home mom. She was a member, and several times president, of the Literary Adventurers Book Club in her neighborhood, a club that lasted over 60 years. Learning and friendships abounded on those nights together.

She loved serving and helping everyone around her, from family to friends to strangers. Her heart was pure gold, devoted to God and to lifting others with love.

Her greatest blessing was her family. She was thrilled to leave a legacy of 54 grandchildren and 45 great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her dear husband, Richard, on September 16, 1995, her parents, and her aunts and uncles. She is survived by her six children: Greg (Gail) Hanson, Connie (Jeff) Sperry, Lorene (Dave) Roberts, Becci (Dave) Scott, Carrie (Steve) Pike, and Tami (Ben) Garff, as well as many, many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. And her dear sister Sandra Dunkley, brother in law Darrell Hanson, sister in law Patricia Hanson and nieces and nephews.

Joyce was our gift in life!

Funeral services will be held on Saturday, November 7, 2026 at 11:00 a.m. at the East Mill Creek 16th Ward building, 3408 Celeste Way, Salt Lake City, UT 84109. Visitations will be held on Friday, November 6, from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. at the Draper Stake building (13085 South 300 East Draper 84020), and on Saturday from 9:30 to 10:45 a.m. at the East Mill Creek 16th Ward building prior to the service. Interment will follow at Memorial Mountain View Cemetery located at 3115 E. Bengal Blvd, Cottonwood Heights, UT 84121.

Click on the link below to watch the service. 

https://youtube.com/live/TA2iTtFOJcM