Joann Brown

On Sunday, October 9, 2022, JoAnn Garfield Haslam Brown Briggs passed away at the age of 83 in her home in Provo, Utah.

The second child and first of three daughters for William Hill Haslam and Leona Garfield Haslam, JoAnn was born on August 17, 1939, in Washington, D.C. where William was employed by the federal government with the United States Civil Service Commission. As a little girl, JoAnn loved the family road trips they took around the East, and she loved to read. She also started taking piano lessons at 8 years old. The family lived in Virginia until JoAnn was 12 years old, when they moved to Denver, Colorado.

While in Denver for junior high and high school, JoAnn continued to be involved in musical activities, playing the piano for church, singing in choirs, and taking organ lessons. She met her husband Thomas Kirby Brown while in high school but didn’t marry him until after she had graduated from Brigham Young University, where she earned a degree in psychology.

Tom and JoAnn were married in the Salt Lake Temple on September 1, 1961. While Tom pursued a Master’s Degree at BYU, JoAnn worked as a secretary in the Zoology Department. After a year, they welcomed their first child. When Tom completed his degree, he began a long career for IBM, with the family following him to Salem, Oregon, where three more children were born, and later to Bellevue, Washington; Sunnyvale and San Jose, California (where their youngest two children were born); Arlington, Texas; and finally, back to San Jose.

After all her children were in school, JoAnn earned an elementary education teaching credential from San Jose State University. She began teaching kindergarten at Almaden Country Day School in San Jose, and later taught first grade at American Heritage School in American Fork, Utah, where she was able to have two of her granddaughters in her classes. JoAnn was a patient and thoughtful teacher who delighted in helping children learn. She retired from teaching in 2006.

When Tom retired from IBM in 1993, they moved to Provo so JoAnn could be closer to family and Tom could be closer to the BYU Cougars. After Tom passed away in 1997, JoAnn married Glenn H. Briggs, in 2004. Glenn was a kind and supportive companion until his passing in 2015.

JoAnn continued playing the piano and the organ for church for as long as she was able. She greatly enjoyed studying the scriptures, keeping many notebooks of handwritten notes and collages of cut-outs from church magazines.

JoAnn is preceded in death by her parents, William and Leona; her husband, Tom; and her second husband, Glenn. She is survived by her siblings, Bruce (Beverly), Linda, and Evie; her six children: Kirby (Krissy), Julie (Steve), Derek, Jenna, Stephanie (Steven), and Steve; 12 grandchildren and one great-grandson – all of whom brought her immense joy.

Funeral services will be held at 11:00 AM on Saturday, November 5, 2022, at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, 3511 North 180 East in Provo, Utah. Viewing will be from 10:00 to 10:45 AM prior to the services at the church. Interment will be in the Provo City Cemetery.

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