Early Life: Joyce was born to David Ambrose and Donna Cornelia Soren Hanks on January 31, 1925, in Salem Utah. She enjoyed many fun filled days hiking to the Dream Mine, hoeing beats, picking cherries and rewarding herself with a daily dip in Salem Pond. She grew up surrounded by cousins and probably kissed a few, since kissing boys was one of her favorite hobbies. In Salem, she was related to almost everyone. As early as third grade, she discovered a love and talent for the game of softball and declared from the top of Mt. Loafer that she was going to grow up and be a PE Teacher. She learned that she was just as good, if not better than, any boy at most any sport and she was out to prove it. In high school, Joyce kept up with her love of the game and most all other sports, tennis being a close second to softball. She played on organized teams and even played at Wrigley Field. Any time you visited Joyce, the TV was on full volume, most likely with a game on. She knew the players, recorded their stats and could predict who would be in the next bracket. She graduated from Spanish Fork High and Brigham Young University, working at the Del Monte Canning Factory to pay for her valuable education.
Life's Work/Service/Interests: A handsome soldier returning from the war showed up in church one Sunday in full uniform and stole her heart. Seven children later, a profitable dairy farm and a successful career, you guessed it, as a PE Teacher at Spanish Fork High School. This was more than a little girl from Pond Town could have ever imagined. She was devoted to her husband and her children; they all knew she loved them and knew she had a love for her Savior and His teachings. Apart from her own daughters, Joyce was a mother and mentor to literally thousands of girls through Girls Athletics (GAA), Pep Team, cheerleading and musicals. She coached them all onto amazing victories! She was a great example in all she did and truly touched many lives. Highlights of her life include being Miss Congeniality on every trip, tour, cruise and outing she and Ralph ever embarked on and an 85th birthday trip to the Price Is Right with her daughters. But the icing on the cake was the culmination and realization of all she had been working for and had achieved, by being inducted into the 2012 Spanish Fork Athletic Hall of Fame. Joyce will leave an enormous hole in many people's lives but she has served her Heavenly Father well and her loved ones know she was greeted joyously by so many with wide open arms. She probably already has her glove on and has rounded 2nd base. A true Salem girl, Joyce Maurine Hanks Henderson fought hard to stay in this world that she loved and to be with family and friends who cherished and adored her. On July 1, 2014, she finally took a big step to cross over and be with the man who made her smile everyday, Ralph Allen Henderson. Together they built a legacy; using love, hard work and laughter as the building blocks.
Survived By: Five daughters and their husbands: Rebecca and Douglas Dean, Cathy and Clare Leishman, Mitzie and Stan Huff, Terry and Lynn McClure and Kally and Robert Foote; 24 grandchildren and 45 great grandchildren.
Preceded In Death By: Her true love, Ralph; her sweet little Rosemary "Roie" and new baby, Ralph Mack Henderson; her parents; her sister, Evelyn Wood; and brothers: Keith and David Hanks.
Services: Celebration of Life | LDS Chapel @ 60 Main Street in Salem, Utah.
Mortuary: Walker Funeral Home
Obituary: Provo Daily Herald | 6 July 2014
Bio compiled by: AnnieDuckettHundley