Joseph Frank Hamula

April 3, 1927 ~ December 2, 2016
Joseph Frank Hamula, age 89, born April 3, 1927, in Elyria, Ohio, passed away December 2, 2016, in Salt Lake City, Utah. Born to Hungarian immigrant parents, Ambrose Hamula and Esther Tackacs, Joe attended primary and secondary schools in Elyria, eventually graduating from Elyria High School in 1945. A month before his 18th birthday, Joe joined the U.S. Navy and was shipped to Okinawa. There, he was assigned to man a troop landing craft for use in the planned invasion of Japan. When the war with Japan ended in August 1945, Joe was honorably discharged from military service, returned home, and enrolled in Ohio University. There, he studied on the GI Bill from 1946-49. In 1949, Joe moved with his family to Southern California and transferred to the University of Southern California, from which he graduated with a bachelor's degree in business in 1950. Before graduating, fellow students introduced Joe to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. After prayerfully studying the Church's teachings, Joe joined the Church in February 1951. One year later, Joe was called to serve a full-time mission for the Church in the Swiss-Austrian Mission. After returning from his mission in 1954, Joe returned to Southern California, where he soon met and courted the love of his life, the former Evelyn Joyce Jacobs (Joyce). On June 15, 1956, Joe and Joyce were married in the Los Angeles Temple. With Joyce, Joe settled in Long Beach, California and had five sons, James (b. 1957), John (b. 1961), Jason (b. 1966), Justin (b. 1968), and Jeffrey (b. 1974). With his family, Joe loved vacationing in the Sawtooth Valley of Central Idaho, supporting his sons in their Boy Scouting and sport activities, and watching collegiate sports with his sons and grandchildren. Joe's career was spent primarily in retailing, first with the J.C. Penny Company, later with a health food business called Healthway Foods with stores in Long Beach and Seal Beach, California, and finally with a dry goods store he purchased in 1977 called J. Hamula and Sons in Morgan, Utah. In 1984, Joe and Joyce moved to Salt Lake City, Utah and established a profitable arts and craft company. Throughout his life, Joe served faithfully in many Church callings, including early morning seminary teacher, bishoprics, and high councils. Joe deeply loved Jesus Christ and His restored gospel, which led Joe to study and share it with others his entire life. After retiring in 1999, Joe realized a life-long dream of serving a full-time mission, with Joyce as his companion, in the Hungary Budapest Mission. Together, they served three consecutive missions over a four-year period in Hungary. Preceded in death by his wife, Joyce (d. 2003), his parents and a sister, Priscilla, Joe is survived by a sister, Esther Weber of Redondo Beach, California, her husband, John, and their family; his brother-in-law, Jerald R. Jacobs of Monument, Colorado, his wife, Diane, and their family; his sister-in-law, Janet J. Jones of Centerville, Utah, her husband, Monte, and their family; his five sons and their spouses, Joyce, Shelley, Heather, and Emily; and his 17 grandchildren.
Funeral services will be held Saturday, December 10, 2016, at 12:00 noon at the Founders Park 7th Ward meetinghouse, 11677 Grandville Avenue, South Jordan, Utah. A public viewing will be held Friday, December 9, 2016, from 6-8 p.m. at Wasatch Lawn Memorial Park, 3401 S. Highland Drive, Salt Lake City, Utah. Interment will be at Wasatch Lawn Memorial Park.