Joyce Kraft Lyman-Hughes

March 1, 1938 ~ August 14, 2018
Joyce Kraft Lyman-Hughes was born in Cortez, CO in the old Johnson Hospital on March 1, 1938, second born child of Karl Robison Lyman and Edith Kraft Lyman.
She was raised in Monticello where she graduated from Monticello High School in 1956. In high school she was very active in student government and was chosen Yearbook Queen.
She was also named Miss San Juan County and competed in the contest for Miss Utah.
Since Joyce grew up helping on the family cattle ranch, she rode horses from her early childhood and one summer was named Rodeo Queen.
In the fall of 1956, she started college at Brigham Young University where she received her Elementary Teacher degree in 1960. At BYU she was active in a number of extra-curricular programs including the Social Club, Kappa Debonairs, and she became an officer in the ROTC Sponsor Corp.
Upon graduation, Joyce was hired to teach third grade in the West Covina School District.
Shortly after moving to California, Joyce met Everett Wallace Hughes, Jr. who had converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at age 20 while attending San Diego State University on an athletic scholarship where he played football.
Joyce and “Ev” were married in the Salt Lake Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on June 23, 1961.
They soon bought a home on Cullen Street in Glendora, CA and both taught school for a number of years and were very active in school, community, and church affairs.
Their first child, Stephanie Wright (Jim), was born on September 12, 1964. Their son Darren (Sheri) was born on April 23, 1968 and son Scott (Jessica) on May 13, 1974.
Joyce has ten grandchildren: Brianna (Paul) Ovuoba, Jordan (Janessa) Wright, Kayla (Garrett) Rhoton, Landon Wright, Trenton (Shanique) Hughes, Whitney, Ethan, Tanner, Logan, and Paige Hughes; and two great grandchildren: Holland and Everett Ovuoba.
She was very talented in music and drama and played key roles in four musical theater productions: The Music Man, Hello Dolly, Oklahoma!, and My Fair Lady, sponsored by the Glendora LDS Stake with her sister-in-law Patricia Lyman as producer and good friend Alan Schlutsmeyer directing.
There were eight performances with 400 attendees each night. A total of 3,200 people enjoyed these musicals that, according to some attendees, rivaled Broadway.
Professional sound and lighting enhanced the productions as well as a live orchestra. Joyce always considered this participation a highlight of her life.
Joyce served as president of the Foothill Presbyterian Hospital Foundation, Goddard Middle School PTA, Glendora Council PTA, Glendora Coordinating Council, Glendora Kiwannians, and Co-Chair with Everett of a very successful Holiday Basket program, member of the Citrus College Foundation.
In addition, she served for years delivering Meals on Wheels to “shut-ins” saying, “I always try to deliver the food with a warm, friendly smile and allow a little extra time to visit, knowing I am often the only person that the shut-in has seen in days.”
She was a voracious reader, tennis player, crossword puzzle solver, and big-time “Jeopardy” TV program fan. She also initiated the annual “Kids Health & Safety Fair” in coordination with Foothill Presbyterian Hospital.
Joyce and Ev were real Dodger baseball fans with excellently located season tickets – she kept score at every game they attended.
One of the Glendora community leaders states, “Joyce is a Spark Plug, a woman of the nineties, but with the talents and principles of a pioneer woman.
“Her philosophy, ‘My greatest joy in life is doing things for others’ is evident in her lifestyle and in her day-to-day activities.
“Speaking of pioneers, Joyce traces her roots to the first Bishop of the Mormon church in the 1830s, Edward Partridge; and to Amasa Mason Lyman, an Apostle of the church; and his son, Platte DeAlton Lyman, who led the pioneers in 1880 on the wagon train known as the ‘Hole-in-the-Rock Expedition’ which settled Bluff, UT.
“Her grandfather, Albert R. Lyman is a highly respected historian who has written extensively about the settlement of the Utah San Juan County communities of Bluff, Blanding and Monticello (Joyce’s hometown).”
Joyce is preceded in death by her parents; two brothers, Terry and Mark; her husband, Everett; sister-in-law, Patricia Ann Prescott Lyman; brother-in-law, Richard Hughes; father-in-law, Everett Hughes; and mother-in-law, Myrtle Callahan.
She is survived by her three children, their spouses, ten grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.
Funeral services were held August 18, 2018 in LaVerne, CA with a private, family-only interment at the Oakdale Memorial Park in Glendora, CA next to her husband, Everett, who was interred there in 2012.

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