Joy Hillman

Joy Hillman age 74 of Randolph, Nebraska and formerly of Crofton, Nebraska died on Saturday, December 12, 2020 at the Colonial Manor Nursing Home in Randolph. A graveside service will be held on Monday, December 21, 2020 at 1:00 pm at the Crofton City Cemetery in Crofton, NE with Pastor Karl Watkins officiating. Arrangements are under the direction of the Wintz Funeral Home in Crofton. She has one son and one daughter from two marriages. Her daughter Adrienne Hillman-Rich had two children, Christian and Sherman. Her son Tedsen Bogner had four children, Kate, Tina, Mark and Marina. She has family in Nebraska, South Dakota and Iowa. Joy (Joyce Kathleen Hillman) was born on September 21, 1946, in Yankton South Dakota, to Leslie Walradt Hillman and Mildred Louise Hedberg. She grew up in Crofton Nebraska and attended Crofton NE Elementary and Yankton High School. She had many kind stories about Crofton, her childhood friends and siblings and growing up in Crofton. Crofton was a place where people were always family and they looked out for each other. She spent a short time living in Washington D.C. She later moved to the sun in Tempe Arizona where she went to Arizona State University and earned a law degree, Juris Doctor. From the years 1966 to 1972 she helped raise her son Tedsen in Tempe. She often took him with her to study in the ASU law buildings with her colleagues.  In about 1972 Joy and her husband Paul Bogner divorced and soon after Tedsen’s father was given full custody and they moved to Washington State.  Adrienne was later born in 1978, during her second marriage with David Rich, where Joy raised her in Phoenix Arizona. For a while she lived with her half-sisters Tanya and Lora Rich. She began her law career as a Hearing Officer for Phoenix’s Indigent population and later as an Assistant District Attorney in Globe, Arizona. She later became a judge. She was known for helping those in need and helping advance women's rights. She liked to take rides in the desert with her children in her Volkswagen beetle with the top down, blonde hair blowing in the wind. She like to play a wide variety of music at the time such as Elton John and Helen Reddy. She took many hikes in the desert. She liked to garden, have a cat, and was well-read. She had many good memories of her sisters, including Diane and Sandy, when they visited and/or lived in Tempe, and spent a lot of time with her sister-in-law, Sandra, to whom she always gave thanks for their special friendship. In her final years she moved from Arizona back to Crofton Nebraska, then later Randolph Nebraska for help with assisted living. Like many in the year 2020, Joy caught the Covid-19 virus a few weeks before she passed away. It was enough to push her frail state into an unrecoverable one. She kept a sense of humor. In her care center, while a visitor was there, she was watching the movie “Titanic.” Her visitor said to her "You know, the ship sinks in the end, right?" She grinned and said, "Yes, I read the book." She was always able to keep a smile and be strong when things were tough. The evening before Joy passed away, close family had an opportunity to be with her one last time on a video call, where a prayer was said and thanks given for her life. Joy is survived by her son Tedsen and, daughter Adrienne, 6 grandchildren: and sisters: Carolynn Gartner, Roberta Engstedt, Sandra Hillman, and Dianne Woockman and 1 Brother and Wife: Tom and Deborah Hillman. She was preceded in death by her parents and brother Monte Blair Hillman.