JoAnn Bradford Stevenson June 8, 1934 - December 4, 2022

JoAnn Bradford Stevenson, age 88, passed away December 4, 2022 due to declining health.  JoAnn was born in Palmyra, Utah, on June 8, 1934, the oldest child of Bert D and Blanche Roach Bradford.  Her childhood was very happy and she was very close to her parents and family and knew how much they all loved her.  She attended schools in Helper, and Spanish Fork, Utah, graduating from Spanish Fork High School in 1952.  She was an excellent student and had a lot of friends, many of whom she kept in touch with for the rest of her life.

JoAnn married her sweetheart and eternal companion Dale Stevenson, of Payson, on June 23, 1953 in the Salt Lake City Temple.  They made their first home in Denver, Colorado, where Dale was stationed in the Air Force.  While there, their two oldest sons, Alan and Brent, were born.  After Dale’s discharge from the Air Force, they returned to Spanish Fork where their third son Glen was born.  After Dale graduated from BYU they made their home in Kaysville, Utah where they welcomed their first daughter Janet.  They later moved to St. George, Utah where their last two children, Wayne and Jolene completed their family.  Dale and JoAnn finally settled in Benjamin, Utah where they lived for the next 35 years.  After Dale passed away, JoAnn built a home in Santaquin, Utah where she lived for the next 10 years.  This move made 32 houses that she had lived in during her life time.

JoAnn was a homemaker who made her house a home.  She loved cooking, baking, canning, and preserving food.  All her family enjoyed a lot of home cooked meals.  She was an excellent cook and was able to make anything she cooked delicious.  For years she baked bread and made cookies three times a week.  In addition to cooking, she enjoyed sewing.  She sewed most of the clothes her children wore while growing up.  She also sewed Barbie clothes, doll clothes, and all the accessories that went with them and was an excellent seamstress.  In her later years she absolutely loved to tie lap quilts and made countless quilts and afghans for everyone to enjoy.  Her favorite hobby was scrapbooking.  She started her first scrapbook when she was 17 years old and has put together over 60 scrapbooks of her life, her children’s lives, travels, church callings and other books from the events that occurred in her life.  Her family treasures all the memories that she has created and recorded.  Family history was very important to her so she also spent many hours compiling genealogy records of her ancestors.

Growing up, JoAnn’s parents taught her the value of hard work and she was always busy doing some project or task.  She was a bundle of energy and could run circles around those she worked with, even in her later years.  After her children were grown, she worked at World Drug, and Bee Hive Clothing, where she had great associations with her coworkers.

JoAnn was an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and had a great testimony of the gospel.  She had many church callings throughout her life, but the ones she loved the most were working with the children and youth.  She also served as a Stake Inservice Leader for many years.  No matter what calling she had, JoAnn put her full heart into every one of them, which impacted a lot of people along the way.  In her later years she and Dale served in the Provo Temple for almost 10 years.  JoAnn loved this calling and made many friends.

She liked to travel and she enjoyed many fun trips with her family.  Some of her favorites included going to Nauvoo, Illinois, Branson, Missouri, and Disneyland.  She even rode the Matterhorn when she was 78 years old.  She also enjoyed attending plays, and for more than 20 years had tickets to BYU, Hale Theater, and Broadway plays in Salt Lake City.  She attended over 250 plays and she loved almost every one of them.  Of all things JoAnn loved, what she loved the most was her family.  She tried to instill kindness, love, and laughter in each of them.  While she will be missed by those she leaves behind, it cannot be denied there was a beautiful reunion waiting for her in heaven.

JoAnn was a beautifully kind and caring person and she leaves an amazing legacy.

She is survived by her son Wayne (Deanna) Stevenson, Kimberley, Idaho; daughters Janet (Craig) Bott, Payson, Utah; Jolene (Richard) Clark, Brigham City, Utah; and daughters-in-law Mary Stevenson, Margate, Florida;   Marianne Stevenson, Spanish Fork, Utah; and Jeana Stevenson, Monroe, Utah.  She is also survived by her brothers Clyde (Eva) Bradford, Spanish Fork, Utah; and Randall (Vicki) Bradford, Spanish Fork, Utah.  She has 21 grandchildren, 30 great-grandchildren, and two great-great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents, her twin brothers Blaine and Blair Bradford, her husband Dale Stevenson, her three sons Alan, Brent and Glen Stevenson, and her two grandsons Scott Stevenson and Michael Bott.

During her life JoAnn was an honored daughter, a much-teased sister, a cherished spouse, a precious mother, a revered grandmother, and a much-loved great-grandmother.  We are going to miss her so deeply.

The family would like to give a heartfelt thank you to the wonderful staff at Legacy House in Spanish Fork for their excellent loving care of our sweet mother.  In the last three years of her life, she felt so special and loved by all the care givers there.

Funeral services will be held on Monday, December 12, 2022 at 11:00 a.m. at the Benjamin First Ward Chapel, 3238 West 7300 South, Benjamin, Utah.  Family and friends may visit Monday morning prior to services from 9:30 to 10:45 a.m. at the church.  Interment will be at the Benjamin Cemetery.

The funeral service will be streamed live. Please return to this memorial page shortly before 11:00 a.m. on Monday, December 12, 2022, and click on the link below