Joann Kunzler

Our beautiful wife, mother, and grandmother returned to the loving arms of her Heavenly Father on July 25, 2024 after a valiant year long battle with cancer. She passed away peacefully surrounded by her loving family. JoAnn was born on October 30, 1946 in Payson, Utah to Don Braithwaite and Norma Johnson Braithwaite. She was the oldest of six children. As a child, her family lived in many different places until settling in Perry, Utah just before her senior year of High School. After graduating from Box Elder High School, she attended and graduated from Hi Style College of Beauty. She met the love of her life and eternal companion, Samuel (Sam) Kunzler, cruising the streets of Brigham City in their souped-up cars. They were married on September 14, 1968 in Perry Utah. They were later sealed in the Ogden Temple for time and all eternity on October 30, 1973. They are eternal sweethearts that spent their lives always by each other’s side. They bought their first home in Perry, Ut, where they had four daughters. They later built a home in Willard near the family farm in 1980 where they welcomed a son. JoAnn worked as a beautician, styling the hair of many of her neighbors and friends. As her kids grew, she decided being a full time mom was her most important job. She spent a lot of her time volunteering at her children’s schools and in the community. She also had a daycare in her home for many years then later went on to work at ShopKo in Brigham City. There she made many lifelong friends. She truly enjoyed getting to know the customers and visiting with them any time she saw them. JoAnn was a faithful member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. She served in many callings over the years. JoAnn and Sam served as Service Missionaries for the Special Needs Seminary class at Box Elder High School for 3 years. They truly loved this calling and developed very special bonds with all the students they worked with. They also spent many years serving as Temple Cleaning Coordinators on Mondays where they made lifelong friends. JoAnn loved the gospel and was a great example to those around her. She was very compassionate and always willing to help others with meals or any other needs. She had a very generous heart. JoAnn and Sam loved to spend their time together. They loved traveling and went on many memorable vacations with family and friends. Some of their favorite trips were Alaska, Hawaii, the West Coast, Florida and any place spent with their kids and grandkids. Our family will always cherish the memories made while traveling with Grandma and Grandpa. She loved spending time with her family. One of our favorite memories will always be family game nights which were always full of laughs. JoAnn was a lady of many talents. She was famous for her amazing cooking, her yummy variety of jams (which she loved to share with friends and neighbors), and her crocheted kitchen “scrubbies.” She made sure she always kept her family and friends supplied with those scrubbies, which we appreciated. Her favorite time of the year was Christmas. She always went all out! It brought her great joy to give to others and she loved spoiling her family. She was always very generous. She also LOVED to shop! She would start shopping on Jan 1st for the next Christmas. She had a talent for always finding the perfect gifts for everyone. Her gifts were always the best! She always looked forward to and enjoyed her annual all-day Christmas shopping day spent with her daughters. JoAnn could shop til she dropped…but she never dropped!! JoAnn loved her family more than anything. They were truly her joy in life! She would do anything for them. She was kind, loving, gentle, understanding and was always a peacemaker. Mom always made sure we knew we were loved. She is survived by her husband Sam, her daughters, Kari (Burt) Miller, Kristi (Robert) Gonzales, Steffanie (Brandon) Jacobson, Sharee (Jay) Thackeray and a son Justin (Britany) Kunzler; 18 grandkids and 6 great-grandkids with one more on the way; Siblings, David, Norval, Barry (Karen) Braithwaite and brother in law, Karlan Forsberg. She is preceded in death by her parents, Nila (sister), Fred (brother), Lani (sis in law) and her sweet grandkids, Jackson, Aleister and Freya. Funeral services will be held Saturday, August 3, 2024 at 11:00 am at the Hargis Hill Ward Chapel, 80 N 100 W, Willard, Utah. A viewing will be held on Friday, August 2, 2024 from 6:00-8:00 pm at Gillies Funeral Chapel, 634 E 200 S, Brigham City, Ut and on Saturday from 9:30-10:30 am at the church. Interment will be at the Willard City Cemetery. The family would like to give thanks to the staff at CNS Home Health Care and Hospice. A special thank you to her nurse Peggy, for her tender loving care for our sweet mom this past year, and her hospice nurse Fyre. We also would like to thank the staff at The Lighthouse at Maple Springs. Mom, you have truly been such a blessing to us. We will always strive to live by your example of love, compassion and service to all. You are the best example of who we should all try to be. You are truly the wife, mom and grandma everyone wishes they had. Until we meet again, your family loves you dearly and will miss you immensely.