Edith Joyce Lemberger

Edith “Joyce” Lemberger, age 88, passed away peacefully surrounded by loved ones on Thursday, March 27th, 2025, in South Jordan, Utah due to complications from dementia.

Joyce was born on November 12th, 1936, at her home in Salt Lake City, the third of seven children to Doyle Layton Nunley and LoDema Heaps Nunley. She had 4 sisters and 2 brothers, so a big family and strong values came naturally to her as she helped raise younger siblings and then many nieces and nephews to follow.

As a child, she enjoyed going for drives with her family. They would drive around to find a place to have a picnic. They would either pack a lunch or cook their food on the car’s engine. Her and her sisters enjoyed picking fruit and selling it to earn a little extra money. Joyce also loved riding horses and feeding the chickens.

Joyce was an extremely hard worker and joined the workforce at age 14. Her first job was at an ice cream shop, and she loved everything about that job, especially greeting the customers and sampling all the flavors!

Joyce attended Jordan High school in Sandy, Utah where she was very popular and involved in student body office. Some of those friends she kept in contact with. It was also there that she met her first love, Jimmy Orgill. She loved him so much she married him twice!

At age 17, Joyce got her dream job of becoming a Dental Assistant. She was “THAT” family member that always asked friends and family if they brushed and flossed daily. She really enjoyed her job and through that career met her second husband, Albert Lemberger, DDS. She worked alongside him for many years and eventually retired from the workforce after her job with Albert. Together the two of them traveled the world. It was a family saying that there were less places they had not visited as opposed to places they had visited. These places included African safaris, Australian jungles, Exotic Cruises, Hawaiian retreats, Asian tours and many more. She has lived in many places including Utah, California, England, Nevada and finally settled again back in Utah.

Joyce was an avid golfer, carrying a professional-level handicap. She golfed at many country clubs all over the world as her favorite past time. If you were lucky enough to go golfing with her, she would sometimes let you drive the cart. What a treat that was!

When she wasn’t working, traveling or golfing, she enjoyed working in the yard, gardening and making her yard look beautiful. Joyce was all about beauty and fashion. She loved to shop and could go on a shopping marathon with the best of them! She was a health fanatic and took great care of her body. She always wanted to look her best. She loved to be pampered. Getting her hair done, facials, manicures, pedicures, she loved it all! She would go walking and exercise daily and keep a strict diet. She believed in holistic medicine, natural remedies and healthy diet habits. She was a wonderful gourmet cook and loved to entertain her family and friends at her home. She loved Mexican food, anything sweet, and especially the chocolate!

Joyce also loved reading and playing board games, puzzles, painting and dancing to Johnny Mathis, Dean Martin or any other love song. She loved to sing and would always sing “Beauty Shop” style harmonies with her sisters, even until the very end. She wouldn’t say much, but she could remember any words to any song and sing it with pride. She had a great eye for abstract art and museums. She was very smart and intuitive, a financial wizard and a friend to all who will be greatly missed dearly by all who know her.

After retirement, Joyce became a lover of fur babies. She had several kitties that she took great care of. Her 17-year-old kitty, Misty, is still here today and misses her mama dearly. Joyce took care of many neighborhood kitties by setting up several feeding stations in her HOA community where she lived so no cat would go hungry. She also made generous charitable contributions to the local animal shelters for spay and neutering.

One of our favorite memories from when we were younger, Joyce would come to stay at our house during her visits to Utah. Our parents would make us clean the house for an entire week to prepare for her arrival. She always slept in my room, so I got to have sleepovers with friends. And when it came time for her to leave, she would always say “I’ll give you $100 for those jeans you’re wearing.” Now these weren’t just any jeans, they were teeny bopper jeans with zippers and bow ties on the ankles, and I’ll be darn if they didn’t fit her perfectly.

When we went to visit her at her home in California, she would take us to Disneyland and Knotts Berry Farm. She loved to spoil all her nieces and nephews; they were her honorary children.

Over the past few years, as her dementia progressed, it was an honor to be caregivers for Joyce. We would spend weekend nights at her house where we spent many, many sleepless hours! We would take her to appointments, make her dinner, go for rides, do manicures, look through photo albums or sometimes just watch Hallmark Channel. These

are the most cherished memories we have because it was one on one time with our aunt who we loved so dearly.

We did this until she needed more care than we were able to provide for her. Amidst the global pandemic, we moved her to memory care. We, along with her entire family, would like to thank the staff and caregivers at The Peaks at South Jordan Memory Care and Bristol Home Health and Hospice for the continuous love and care they provided for Joyce over the last few years. We know that many loved her and treated her just like family.

Joyce is survived by her sisters, Alma Nunley Jamison and Kathie Jo Nunley. Her Brother Ric (Sandra) Nunley, Sister-in-law, Mary Nunley and many nieces and nephews. Also, her kitty Misty. She was preceded in death by her parents, Doyle and LoDema, her sister Dorothy Nunley Anderson, Phyllis LoDema Buckland and brother James Doyle Nunley. Also, many nieces, nephews, and former husbands, Jimmy Orgill and Albert Lemberger.

Funeral services for Joyce will be held on Wednesday April 2, 2025 at 11:00 am at Redwood Memorial Mortuary 6500 South Redwood Road West Jordan Utah 84123.