Kathryn Joy Zollinger

Kathryn Joy (Aucoin) Zollinger, long-term resident of Declo Idaho, passed away Tuesday, December 19, 2023.

She was born in her paternal grandparents’ home in Pride, Louisiana, on May 6, 1931, to Joseph Gardner Aucoin, Sr. and Gertrude Marie (Brannon) Aucoin. She grew up near Baton Rouge with two brothers and younger sister.

Joy fondly recalls dawdling in fields of sugar cane, sharing stories with friends while chewing on sweet stalks and sun-ripened figs. Joy was nourished all her childhood by kindly relatives and a close community. Daily, she traipsed down country roads to be enveloped by her grandma’s arms and the scent of warm bread pudding. The tradition continued. Joy was renowned for her southern charm, gifting friends and family with heavenly meals and hospitality.

Joy attended Pride Elementary in Louisiana. She played trumpet in the Pride High School marching band where she graduated as Valedictorian in 1948. She attended Baton Rouge Business College gaining top-of-her-class secretarial skills. She lived at home, worked at Gulf States Utility Company, and dedicated herself to spending every paycheck on tailored suits and stylish shoes. She loved her job. She loved her subsequent family more.

She met Clayne Zollinger on a trip to Utah with her parents and they continued corresponding by letter. They married on November 22, 1950, in the Logan Utah Temple where members of her family traveled long distances to attend the wedding. Joy was a third-generation member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. As a child, she often accompanied her father as he visited southern wards and branches. She deeply loved her church with all her heart and dreamed of marrying a returned missionary, which she did.

Joy moved to Declo, Idaho, after the birth of her first daughter. She was not initially enamored with Magic Valley landscape compared to the lushness of Louisiana, but indoor plumbing more than compensated for desert surroundings. From sugar cane to sugar beets, Joy was soon convinced she had found a new home where industrious Mini-Cassia people eventually turned sagebrush into rolling fields of green. Over the next ten years, Joy gave birth to three additional daughters and one son. The entire family benefitted from Joy’s willingness to raise chickens and pigs, go camping, boating, water-skiing, fishing, ice-skating, and snowmobiling. She drew the line at hunting but anything short of that was worth a try.

Joy was a relentless chronicler, a true history bug. She documented her life with detailed accountings. Her standard for accuracy was legendary. Her memory remained sharp even as her children's memories faded. Over her lifetime, Joy preserved family stories that would have been lost had she not collected autobiographies. Because of Joy, beloved family member’s lives will continue to inspire generations.

As a stickler for accuracy coupled with an innate ability for organization, Joy served her Savior by accepting various church callings requiring organizational skills and multitasking. Five kids at home and a husband to support, Joy graciously served in ward and stake leadership roles. She was ward MIA president and stake MIA president for a decade, spending 20-plus years working with Young Women: a calling she believes kept her young at heart. Despite church responsibilities, Joy’s family was blessed with coconut pies and cream puffs only a southern gal can make.

Joy was a member of the Declo Booklore Club for over 50 years, having joined in 1952 to meet monthly in members’ homes. She instilled a love of literature in her children, taking them to the library and buying books for the living room. Naturally, Joy served as book club historian and scrapbook chairman for over twenty years.

In the summer, Joy immersed herself in the landscaping she and Clayne designed together. She loved natural flower beds with colorful swaths of perennials. She loved sewing in quiet hours after midnight, hemming Sunday dresses for her daughters. She loved music. She loved singing, including participation in interdenominational choirs as a child. She is surely still singing gospel music today. Or perhaps more accurately, Neil Diamond.

Steadfast principles and religious values guided Joy’s decisions throughout her life. We will miss the power of her example, her contagious laughter rippling through the house, her ability to accept and love all kinds of people from all walks of life.

Surviving Joy is her sister, Linda Diane McCue (Reginald); one sister-in-law, Beverly Aucoin (Joseph); her five children, Carolyn Zollinger, Janene (Dirk) Duchscherer, Kathy Jo (Dave) Duffin, Connie Zollinger and Clayne Stirland (Teryl) Zollinger Jr.; one granddaughter; nine grandsons; one great-granddaughter; and nine great-grandsons.

Preceding Joy in death was her husband of 73 years; her parents; two brothers, Joseph Gardner Aucoin, Jr. (Beverly), and Burl Raymond Aucoin; one sister-in-law, Pat Aucoin (Burl); and one son-in-law, Dirk Duchscherer.

Two days after Clayne’s death, the magnolia bride slipped gently into the loving arms of her returned missionary.

A funeral service for Joy and her husband, Clayne, will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, January 6, 2024, at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - Declo Stake Center, located at 213 W. Main St., in Declo. Burial will follow at Declo Cemetery.

Family and friends will be received from 5 until 7 p.m. Friday, January 5, 2024, at Rasmussen-Wilson Funeral Home, 1350 E. 16th St., in Burley, and from 10 until 10:45 a.m. Saturday, preceding the funeral, at the church.

A live webcast of the Funeral Service will be available and maintained at the following link: https://youtu.be/5dBw-EyeG9M.