Joan Husberg Gillette

Joan Husberg Gillette, passed beyond this realm, surrounded by love of her daughter's voice, on July 22 at the age of 91. She was born on June 30th, 1929 in Salt Lake City UT to Rhea Fey Sadler Husberg and Andrew Gustav Husberg. She was raised in the historic "Glendale" neighborhood of Salt Lake City and had a very interesting and rich life, full of memories and unique history. She had a great appreciation for her father, how he migrated to the US all of the way from Sweden, and was always talking about his world travels. She had a very strong interest in Genealogy, and worked for the Family History Library in downtown Salt Lake for about eight years, and did extremely extensive genealogical research prior to the invent of the internet. Joan also worked as a Schoolteacher & substitute Schoolteacher for many years. She loved children. She also seemed to have a great appreciation for different cultures of the world, fine art, history (especially that of the state of Utah), classical music, and trees. After a prior failed marriage, she met the love of her life, Karl R Gillette (a descendent of Parley Pratt) at a dance, and they married on August 12, 1966. As her two young children were growing up, she focused a great deal of her energy on raising them, and did an amazing job as a mother, always 100% supportive and providing true unconditional love. Throughout this period, and after recovering from some health challenges, she also taught herself Foot Reflexology, and provided this service to her family and friends free of charge. (She also became interested in other holistic approaches to health such as homeopathic salts, and has passed along to her daughter a strong interest in natural approaches to dealing with disease). Stemming from her interest in Genealogy and the history of her family, she has compiled a great deal of unique historical records and pictures, including unique parts of Utah history. Her daughter has inherited this and is working on compiling this into an archive for the sake of humanity and those interested in Utah history. In the later part of her life, a few years after her husband's passing, she moved into the house she had originally grew up in with her daughter, where she stayed relatively active in relationship to her condition and was able to deal amazingly well with progressive Alzheimers. She loved watching "Music and the Spoken Word", meeting with dear people from the local church who would come over to visit, and was able to find great Beauty & Joy in everything around her - especially the trees, the mountains, the sky, and the clouds. This great joy that she was able to obtain from everything around her - even the little things - will serve as an inspiration to many who knew her at this phase in her life. She is survived by her daughter, Eileen Gillette Greene (Charles), and her grandson, Dominic Greene... and is preceded in death by her mother, Rhea Fea Sadler Husberg, her father Andrew Gustav Husberg, her brother, Paul Husberg, her son, Gregory Rey Gillette, and her husband, Karl Rey Gillette. Funeral services will be conducted outside/graveside to allow for maximum visitation, at approximately 11:30am on Thursday July 30th at Elysian Burial Gardens (1075 East 4580 South in Salt Lake). There will be a viewing ahead of time at 10:00am on Thursday July 30th at Serenity Funeral Home in Draper UT (12278 Lone Peak Pkwy). Attendees will be allowed into the viewing in small "waves". The family is also planning on a web broadcast to reach out to those who are unable to come. (Memories and condolences can also be shared before or after the service at www.serenityfhs.com).

Joan Husberg Gillette

June 30, 1929 - July 22, 2020