Joy Ann Downs

Joy Ann Downs passed away peacefully in Salt Lake City on March 15, 2023, surrounded by her children.  She left this world on the same day she was born, having made It to her goal of 86.  Joy was born on March 15, 1937, in Pocatello, Bannock County, Idaho, to Jedediah Lewis Ashton and Annona Eliza Ashton.  During her childhood, Joy enjoyed living in the Tyhee, Idaho, and Spokane, WA, areas, where her father ran several successful dairy farms.  She was surrounded by a loving family, to include her brothers Jed Jr, Val, and Don, and her little sister Gay.  Joy was an adventurous spirit, always flitting away to new adventures whenever the opportunity presented itself.  Many a humorous story is told of Joy while she was growing up.  Volumes could be filled, with laughter never ending.

Joy loved life and travel, having lived in Idaho, California, Alaska, Georgia, Texas, and Utah.  However, through it all, she loved her family even more.  Joy enjoyed family reunions and family vacations, where she was able to spend the time with those she loved.  Where she could laugh at the antics of her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.  During her life, she was able to teach her five children about loyalty to family, the selfless nobility of service to others, and a love of God and of our Savior Jesus Christ.  Her family heritage was most important to Joy, as she cherished who she was and where she had come from.  Those attributes and beliefs were passed down, as an honored legacy of a person who believed passionately in God’s plan of Salvation and the eternal principle of families.

Through the years, enduring the ups and downs of this earthly life, Joy maintained her strong individuality and personality.  Joy is preceded in death by her father, mother, and brothers, and four other siblings that passed away before she was born.  She is survived by her five children, Cheri Kane (Jack), Blaine Pike (Sharon), Cindy Rivera (Isaac), Patrick Pike (Wendy) and Christopher Terry (Julie), 17 grandchildren, and 25 great-grandchildren plus 1 on the way, who will miss her and cherish her memory.  Even though we will miss her, we know of a surety that her reunion with her parents and her siblings is happy, with laughter and love.  Our separation in this earthly existence will be but a short time, and then our reunion with her will be even greater, with more love and laughter than can be imagined.