Joan Casper Barnett (1934-2026)
Joan Casper Barnett died July 31, 2026 at age ninety-two, following a stroke. She was born May 29, 1934 at LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City, the daughter of Jesse and Merle Casper. She grew up in Murray and graduated from Murray High School in 1952. After high school she attended the University of Utah, received a bachelor’s degree in elementary education in1955, and later taught elementary school. She married John Dean Barnett in the Salt Lake Temple on September 15, 1954. They moved to Provo in 1959, where Joan devoted herself to the full-time job of raising six children.
Joan held numerous church positions, but her greatest service came from her passion for music. Once her children were in school, Joan returned to school and received a master’s degree in musicology from BYU. Through lessons and diligent practice, she became a skilled organist and was an organist in her ward for over fifty years. She taught organ and piano lessons to people in her ward and stake, as well as to children and grandchildren. She also enhanced church services with her own hymn preludes and arrangements.
She was a beloved wife, mother, grandmother, great grandmother, and friend. She is survived by her children Teresa, Brent, Kathleen (Joseph) Stanford, Alan, Cheryl (Robert) Davis, and Russell; twenty-one grandchildren, and thirty-six great grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her husband, parents, sister Carol, and granddaughter Bonnie Walton.
Funeral Services will be held Saturday, August 15, at 11 a.m., at the Pleasant View Chapel, 650 East Stadium Avenue, Provo, Utah, where viewings will be held Friday, August 14, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., and prior to services on Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Interment in Provo City Cemetery, 610 South State Street, Provo, Utah.