Joe F Wright

Joe F. Wright was born 25 March 1933 to Enid Mae Webster and Warren R. Wright in Charleston, Wasatch County, Utah. They lived in Salt Lake for a short time then moved back to Charleston. He was followed by Merlene, Bee, Rex, and the twins Bob and Betty. The family moved to Provo when he was eleven.

He met his sweetheart, Mary Vee Rasband, in the store across the street from his home where he worked for her brother-in-law. They were married in the Salt Lake Temple on 2 October 1952. Shortly after they were married Joe was drafted into the army during the Korean war. He was shipped and stationed in Nancy, France. Mary Vee joined him and they lived in a small apartment there. They enjoyed their time in Europe together. There they explored a lot of countries in northern Europe. Don was born while there in an army hospital in Germany. Don was barely old enough to travel on the boat home when Joe finished his military service.

Joe and Mary Vee made their home in Provo while he went to school at Brigham Young University to become an accountant. They had 3 children during that time: Gary, Sue and Jean. Joe worked full time while going to school. During the summer he worked in the woods or building homes.

Joe did his internship in California where he moved the family to Hayward after he earned his degree. They bought a home in Concord, California in 1961 where the rest of their children were born: Lynn, Diane, Mark, Brent and Colene. He worked hard all his life to take care of his family.

Joe worked hard in his church callings helping in all kinds of service projects to fund what was needed to run the ward. He helped build a portion of the church building in Concord. He served in many leadership positions in the church. He started as a scout master. Then he was called as a ward clerk and served in that position everywhere he lived between working as a counselor in bishoprics, elders quorum president, counselor for High Priest quorum, Sunday School and ward mission leader. In one ward there were a lot of widows and he and Mary Vee were called to be their liaison. Later in life he would look for people he felt needed something extra and give a warm hug. Since he was tall (6’4”) and had large feet (size 15) as a joke, he was known as the gentle giant with great understanding and no one could fill his shoes. It was all true. He loved all those he served. 

They moved to Arizona in 1972 and lived there until 1976. From there they moved to American Fork Utah from 1976 to 1986 then moved back to Arizona until his death on 27 December 2024.

He is survived by his sons; Don (Camille), Gary, Lynn (Cynthia) and Mark with daughters; Sue (Duane) Lucy, Diane and Colene (Craig) Jones. Also, sisters; Merlene Furr, Bee Arnold and Betty Webster, in-laws Carol and Marianne Wright, 10 grandchildren, 6 great-grandchildren, 4 step grandchildren, 4 step great-grandchildren and many nieces and nephews.

Funeral Services will be held at 11 am with a viewing at 10 am on Friday, January 3rd, 2025 at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at 825 S. 32nd St, Mesa, AZ 85204. The service may also be viewed virtually via the Zoom link below:

Zoom Link Joe Wright Funeral Service

Funeral arrangements are entrusted to Whitney & Murphy Bueler Mortuary.