Joan Ward Wayment

BURLEY – Joan Ward Wayment, our beloved mother, wife, grandmother, sister, and friend returned to live with Heavenly Father and her family, as she recently requested, on August 13, 2021, where she now joins her parents, sister, husband and great-granddaughter.

A resident of Burley, Idaho and surrounding areas for all of her 86 years, she was born on March 19, 1935, to Harold King Ward and Sarah Naomi Tracy in Almo, Idaho. Paired with her new-born twin sister, she started life in a shoe box in the dresser drawer where they could both be kept warm. Her elementary years were spent with her twin sister and no one could tell them apart. When Joan was a high school sophomore, she sat next to Garr Wayment in seminary and he thought she was pretty cute, so he tried to impress her and finally worked up the courage to ask her on a date. They both loved to dance, and boy could they dance. Garr could take Joan to a church dance and get them both a hamburger and milkshake for $1.00. That was all he could afford. So being fairly poor, they danced around the various stake and ward dances for the next five years until they finally decided that marriage was a must. A sneak peek at their pre-marriage love letters showed that Garr and Joan were destined to get married, as Joan referred to Garr as “darling” and “dearest”. She wasn’t beyond scolding him when he didn’t write enough letters or come see her often enough as they lived apart after high school while both were attending different universities.

Garr and Joan were married on September 12, 1956, in the Salt Lake Temple, with their mothers in attendance, and started life in Logan, Utah, but they soon returned to Burley where Garr started to farm. Eventually, Garr and Joan returned back to school for a short period of time for Garr to continue his education, but his heart was not there and it was obvious that farming was destined to be his profession so they returned to Burley and made it their permanent home. Garr started to farm with his father and life was not easy. There were ups and downs, but through it all, they had three children. They both battled cancer and cheated death while their children were still living in the home. Garr and Joan never forgot the Unity and View Ward members just showing up to harvest their crops when Garr was too sick with cancer to do it himself. Joan struggled with severe obsessive compulsive disorder which was a trial she fought for most of her married life.

While Joan was not a fan of farming, she brought balance to the family, and where farming was hard and consumed a vast majority of their time, she nevertheless insisted that church was a must and assured that the family were all active members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Her children are all still active in the church and have a testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel. The family always attended ward Gold and Green balls, ward budget socials, and church events. Their love of dance was soon shared with the family as Jed, Nalene, and Justin all attended the church dances, and as youth, all provided dancing entertainment for the ward socials. Nalene used to dance on Garr’s feet and Jed and Justin eventually performed on the BYU ballroom dance touring team throughout various parts of the world. Garr and Joan were very proud of their children, watched and supported their success, and enjoyed their performances. Joan and Garr square danced, round danced, and loved to take Sunday drives while Garr looked at the farmland and Joan reminded him to “watch where you’re driving”.

Education was also important to them, and each of their children graduated with post-high school degrees, which the farm helped pay for while their children attended school. Their children are all married and Joan took pride in her children and their spouses. In their later years, when money was more plentiful, Joan and Garr traveled throughout the United States, and took a few trips to Europe, Mexico, Italy, and Greece. They bought a trailer and became snow birds often traveling back and forth between Arizona and Idaho, stopping to see friends and family along the way. Garr died of liver cancer on April 14th, 2006, and Joan never remarried. For the last several years of Joan’s life, she was wheelchair bound and lived in a long-term care facility battling Parkinson’s Disease.

We express appreciation for those friends, family, and staff that visited and cared for her during the last few years of her life while she lived at Autumn Haven. She is survived by her children, Jed (Linda) Wayment, Nalene (Cole) Hortin, and Justin (Wendy) Wayment; her grandchildren, Cherise Mcdermott, Cory Wayment, Krista Hausheer, Joshua Hortin, Tyler Hortin, Matthew Hortin, Cade Wayment, Julia Wayment, Bryce Wayment, and Jace Wayment; her sisters, Shirley Elliot, and Janielle Ward; and her brothers, Harold Olen Ward, Douglas Ward, and Brent Tracy Ward Schvaneveldt; as well as six great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her husband; parents; sister, Connie Celestia Seamons; and her great-granddaughter, Rosey Lin Wayment. She will be missed, but as a family we stand together to bear witness that she lives still, that she has returned to her heavenly home, and that she is happy in her joyful reunion with deceased family. We will all see her again some day.

The funeral will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, August 20, at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints – View 2nd Ward, located at 554 S. 490 E. of Burley, with Bishop Kevin Schroeder officiating. Burial will follow at the View Cemetery.

Friends and family will be received from 6 until 8 p.m. Thursday, August 19, at Rasmussen-Wilson Funeral Home, 1350 E. 16th St., in Burley, and from 10 until 10:45 a.m. Friday at the church prior to the service.

A live webcast of the Funeral Service will be available and maintained at the following link: https://youtu.be/UeRPFXvOVAc.