Betty Evangeline (Hammer) Joy |
| Posted 2017-05-01 by Judy Wight Branson |
| The Daily Courier, Prescott, Arizona Wednesday, April 26, 2017, page 7a Betty Evangeline Hammer-Joy, age 85, of Scottsdale passed peacefully on Friday, April 21, 2017, surrounded by her large, loving family. Born Feb. 18, 1932, in Casa Grande, Arizona, to Louis Joseph Fairfax Hammer, an Arizona native and Anna Margaret Peck. After marrying Samuel C. Joy, an Arizona native, in 1951, she received a B.A. in education at what was then Arizona State College. Betty lived on a ranch in the Mojave Valley before moving to Phoenix to live in the Joy Family Ranch home at 27th Avenue and Northern. She went on to earn her Masters of Education at ASU. In 1965, she moved to Maryvale, where she taught English at Carl Hayden H.S., Trevor Browne H.S., Phoenix Union H.S. and Bostrom H.S. (an alternative school for troubled inner city youth). After retiring from the Phoenix Union High School system, Betty continued her love of teaching and taught at Glendale Community College and at various Rio Salado sites, including teaching English and writing at the Perryville Prison. Betty lived for several years in the northern Arizona town of Dewey-Humboldt, where she was very involved in the town’s new incorporation. She enjoyed living close to nature and was an avid painter, creating beautiful paintings which highlighted the remarkable beauty of Arizona as well as capturing the tiniest of nature’s details that we often overlook. Her love of Arizona was a major part of her life. Betty’s grandmother, Angela Hammer, (inducted in both the Arizona Women’s Hall of Fame & Arizona Newspaper Hall of Fame), is the subject of Betty’s first book,” Angela Hutchinson Hammer: Arizona’s Pioneer Newspaperwoman,” published in 2005 by the University of Arizona Press. Betty also co-authored “Classic Tales from the Firehouse: Firefighters’ Stories of Calamity, Courage and Caring” with her youngest daughter, Rebecca Joy. Preceded in death are her parents; stepmother, Mildred Hammer; grandparents, and her two sons, Samuel Christy Joy (Chris) and Douglas Evan Joy (Dougy). She is survived by her brothers, Don Hammer and Jack Hammer; daughter Anna Joy and husband Rob Crouch; daughter Marilyn Joy-Kolesar and husband Peter Kolesar; son Cyrus Joy Sr.; daughter Rebecca Joy and daughter-in-law Karron Joy. She is also survived by 13 grandchildren, Soren Joy (Dora), Lorielle Joy, Aaron Joy, Bree Joy-Kime (Tim), Acacia Crouch, Dylan Crouch, Torrey Kolesar, Jared Kolesar, Devin Kolesar, Cyrus Joy Jr. (Nicole), Corey Joy (Sabrina), Damien Dodt, Jesse Dodt; 10 great-grandchildren; a nephew and a niece. A Celebration of Life will be held at the Scottsdale House Clubhouse, 4800 N. 68th Street, Scottsdale, from 2 to 6 p.m. on Sunday, April 30, 2017. Family, friends, and others whose lives Betty has touched are invited. Betty was a wonderful soul; fierce and kind, tenacious and bold. She captured the hearts of many along her journey. Her legacy of deep compassion and abundant love lives on through all of who knew her. Information provided by survivors. |
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