Joan "Jo Ann" Fox Kirkham's Obituary
JOAN “JO ANN” FOX KIRKHAM
September 7, 1934 - December 3, 2021
Our beloved sister, Joan Fox Kirkham, passed away on December 3, 2021 in Salt Lake City, Utah. She was 87 years old.
She was born on September 7, 1934 to James Lowell and Alice Caldwell Fox in Vernal, Uintah County, Utah. She was the oldest of nine children. She married Stanford Wrigley Kirkham on April 26, 1976 in the Idaho Falls Temple.
She served a mission in the 1950s in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Jo Ann started working at the age of 16. She worked at ZCMI for several years, then moved to Burbank, California, where she worked in a bank in Los Angeles. At night, she was the bookkeeper for the Alex Theater in Burbank.
Upon returning home to Salt Lake, she worked as a secretary and bookkeeper at her father’s business, the Wells Tannery (later known as Fox Valley Leathers). When her brother Jim took over ownership of the tannery, Joan stayed on and worked with him.
While working there, she met and married Stan. They moved to Rigby, Idaho shortly after their marriage and became temple workers in the Idaho Falls Temple. They served there until Stan passed away in 1999.
Joan was always so very happy, kind, generous, gentle and patient. None of us can remember her ever getting angry.
She loved to go for long rides and would always take one of her sisters with her. They would sometimes drive for hours at a time and occasionally even the whole day.
She was a talented artist. She loved music and singing and could whistle any song. She was always exactly in tune. She has left her own kind of empty space in our lives.
She is survived by Judith Rae (Lowell Jimmy) Fox, Patty (Charles David) Fox, Elaine Fox (Larry) Maxwell, Kay Fox Cutler (Reed) Edgel, Dianne Fox (Earl S.) Coombs, Susan Renee (Richard) Everett and Kenneth Kirk Fox.
She was preceded in death by her husband, both her parents, Lowell Jimmy Fox (brother), Charles David Fox (brother), Roger Caldwell Fox (brother) and Lawrence Quinton Maxwell (brother-in-law).
Viewing: Tuesday, December 7, 2021 from 6-8 pm at Premier Funeral Services 67 East 8000 South, Midvale, UT 84047.
Graveside: Wednesday, December 8, 2021, 12 noon, Hillcrest Cemetery 767 East 1200 North, Shelly, ID.
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