On April 3, 2020, a beautiful soul, Joyce DeGraaf, passed on to Heaven. She left this world due to natural causes and on her terms when she felt ready.
Joyce was born in Tracy, Minnesota on January 19, 1937 to Theodore and Alice (Case) Drackley. She was raised on a farm in Tracy with her 2 brothers, Teddy and Harold, and was active in 4H Club. In 1955 she married Gene Schreiber and together they raised their 2 children, Roger and Connie. They all moved to Salt Lake City, Utah from Brookfield, Illinois in 1969. Joyce and Gene divorced around 1990. Joyce remarried to her favorite dance partner, Orville DeGraaf, and they lived between Sanborn, Iowa and Salt Lake City until Orville passed in 2012. Joyce and Orville adored each other and loved adventures. She lived her final years in Salt Lake City enjoying many old and new friendships. Joyce was a social butterfly and touched many lives with her caring, fun, full of life (some might say sassy) personality. She had an uncanny way of developing friendships with people from all walks of life and saw the good in all. The United Methodist Church was a constant throughout her life, and she was active for many years with the United Methodist Women. Joyce loved all animals, especially dogs! She was a lovely woman and will be missed by many.
Joyce is survived by her children, Roger Schreiber and Connie Schreiber (Jon Hysell), her brother, Harold Drackley (Doris), her grandson, Skyler Schreiber (Dominique), and her great-grandchildren, Athena and Sawyer, who were the source of great joy for her in the last few years. She loved looking at photos of their recent visits.
Thank you to Reverend Bruce Kolasch and Reverend Rusty Butler for their spiritual and supportive visits with Joyce. And thank you to the staff at the Wellington Senior Living for all the special attention given to Joyce.
A service at Christ United Methodist Church will be announced at a later date due to the current safety considerations.
In lieu of flowers, please donate in her name to the Crossroad Urban Center in Salt Lake City https://donorbox.org/support-crossroads-urban-center or to the Humane Society of Utah https://secure3.convio.net/hsutah/site/Donation2;jsessionid=00000000.app30131a?df_id=2122&mfc_pref=T&2122.donation=form1&NONCE_TOKEN=71D953E8A2792011CA2956BCA53DF475.