Joel Millard

Our incredible father, Joel Millard, passed away on May 21st

Joel was born in Farmington, Utah to James R. Millard and Mildred Glover. He was the middle child of five children, and he grew up in Farmington, Utah. He graduated from Davis High School and married Judy Hansen, and they lived in Farmington and raised four children in the Big White House.

Joel began working as a paper boy and then moved to Lagoon Amusement Park where he met Robert Freed who encouraged him to pursue college. He entered the University of Utah and was drawn to social work, starting his career at the Industrial School and then the Boys Ranch. He continued his studies at the U of U eventually earning a master’s degree and a PhD in Social Work.

He spent his most accomplished years working at Project Reality, a treatment center for clients dealing with addiction, where he met his second wife, Sally McVicar Smith Brown. Over his 40 years at the Project, he amassed a long list of friends and colleagues and mentored innumerable other clinicians and counselors. Aside from his dedicated work at “The Project,” he continued to see private clients and was an adjunct professor at the University of Utah.

Over his distinguished career, Joel was honored by the Salt Lake County of Behavioral Services, the State of Utah Human Services Licensing Committee, the State of Utah Sentencing Commission, the Utah Department of Human Services, the Utah State Board of Substance Abuse and Mental Health, and received a Governor’s Award for his recognition for his work on substance abuse and Social Worker of the Year from the Utah Chapter of the NASW.

He enjoyed welding, hunting, and his favorite past times of “pondering” and “tinkering.” He had a tool for every thing and likely 12 of them as he could never find one and preferred buying another one “just in case”.

He loved traveling to conferences and visiting his kids along their many adventures. He found a love of Alaska on a cruise with his wife, Sally, and returned many times with his family in addition to trips to Virginia Beach over the summers, New York, South Africa and an especially freezing trip to Denmark.

Joel loved family skiing weekends at Snowbird, trips up Farmington Canyon for hunting or sledding adventures/accidents (iykyk), concerts in Deer Valley, films at Sundance Film Festival but most of all playing games with his family.

Joel will be remembered for his incredible wit and wry sense of humor. His gift in providing wisdom, guidance, and encouragement is unmatched and will forever be missed by all who met him.

His children are Jolene (Steve), Kim (Melissa), Julee, RJ (Hawk), Josh (Alice), Katherine aka Desper (Chris), and Sarah (Dave) and his grandchildren are Sarah (David), Taylor, Joe (Carly), Kate (David), Matt (Emily), Adeline and Callen and his great-grandchildren are Anna, Sophie, Westley, Hallie, and Ian.

His siblings are Gordon (Ann, Maxine), Paul (Colleen, Sue), Bev, and Pat (Ray).

He was preceded in death his wife Judy Millard, wife Sally Brown, his parents James and Mildred Millard and his brother Paul Millard.

We are so grateful to everyone who befriended him over his last years at Solstice.

A celebration of life will be held in Joel's honor on Saturday, May 30, 2026 from 6:00-8:00 p.m. at Larkin Sunset Gardens, 1950 E 10600 S, Sandy, Utah. Guests are invited to dress in summer casual attire for the celebration.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to PBS or Utah Symphony. He loved watching classical music concerts and attending performances throughout the years.