Joy Hansen Poulsen

Our sweet mother and grandmother, Joy Hansen Poulsen, died peacefully on October 16, 2017 in Salt Lake City, Utah. She was born December 22, 1925 in Monroe, Utah. She was the third of five children born to Wilford Hansen and Nita Joy Collings.

Joy grew up in Monroe, Utah, graduated from South Sevier High School in 1944 and attended Brigham Young University. After a letter-writing courtship during World War II, Joy married Gerald Evan Poulsen in the Salt Lake Temple on January 23, 1947. During their married years they lived in Mount Pleasant, Provo, Salt Lake City, and Bountiful, Utah.

Joy was a patron of the arts. She loved regularly attending concerts and productions of the Utah Opera, Ballet West, the Utah Symphony, and CenterPoint Legacy Theater. She was a member of the Metropolitan Opera Guild. She shared her passion for music and the arts with her children and grandchildren.

She appreciated the beauties of nature. She was an adventurer at heart and traveled to many places. Her favorite destinations were Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks, Alaska, Israel, Yellowstone, and the Canadian Rockies. Some of her fondest memories were of times spent birdwatching with her husband Gerry.

Joy was an avid sports fan and cheered for BYU and the Utah Jazz.  She also liked watching Major League Baseball.

She was an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and faithfully served in various callings throughout her life. She was happy for the opportunity to perform with the Relief Society Singing Mothers in their worldwide telecast in 1957, and especially valued her time of service as an Ordinance Worker in the Bountiful Temple.

Joy loved her family and is survived by her six children and their spouses: David Poulsen, Kathryn and Richard McRae, Carolyn and Ed Gifford, Dale and Laura Poulsen, Janice and Kirk Kasparian, and Julia Warnick; 19 grandchildren and 21 great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband; her parents; her siblings: Elaine Madsen, Reeve Hansen, Genevieve Wilcox, and Gwen Jensen; her son-in-law, Ward Warnick; and her grandson, Chandler Poulsen.

Funeral services will be held Saturday, October 21, at 11:00 a.m. at Russon Mortuary, 295 North Main Street, Bountiful. A viewing will be held prior to the funeral from 9:45-10:45 a.m. Interment will be at the Bountiful City Cemetery.