Surrounded by family, Nonie Hammond Gorey, age 95, died on February 19, 2017, in Salt Lake City.
Nonie was born in Bountiful, Utah, on December 23, 1921. She was the daughter of Wendell Blair Hammond, an attorney and later judge, and Helma Gerrard Hammond, for many years a schoolteacher, and one of few at the time who was married. Nonie was the granddaughter of James T. Hammond, Utah's first Secretary of State, and the great granddaughter of Seth Blair, the first United States Attorney for the Territory of Utah. She graduated from Davis High School, then attended the University of Utah where she made many life-long friends in the Chi Omega sorority.
In 1944, Nonie married Hays Gorey, then city editor of The Salt Lake Tribune. They eventually had four children. During their years in Salt Lake City, Nonie was a member, and ultimately president, of the Salt Lake Junior League. For over twenty years, she and Hays participated in a study group made up of cherished and inquisitive friends. She and Hays traveled the world, spending three months in Tehran in the 1960's and returned having created enduring international friendships. In 1965, when Hays became a political correspondent with Time Magazine, the family moved to Washington, D.C. Given her natural sense of design and color, Nonie became a successful residential and commercial interior designer. In their 30 years in Washington, Nonie developed deep and meaningful friendships. The couple returned to Salt Lake City in 1995, where they spent their remaining years. Hays died in 2011.
Nonie was a stunningly fashionable woman with a brilliant smile who would light up a room the instant she walked into it. She was an extraordinary cook and hostess, entertaining and welcoming friends and acquaintances. Throughout her long life, though, Nonie's priority was her family. She demonstrated a steadfast love for, and acceptance of, each of her children, grandchildren, and greatgrandchildren. Nonie treated everyone as exceptional and worthy of love and respect. And for that, she will be remembered. As her family, we shine in, and share, her abiding love.
The family gives thanks for the loving attention given to Nonie by the staff and caregivers of Parklane Senior Living Center, Cornerstone Home Health and Hospice, and especially to Marcela Villaruel, who shared her sweet presence with Nonie almost daily for the past 18 months.
Nonie was pre-deceased by her parents, her brother, Roger G. Hammond (Los Angeles); her husband, Hays; and granddaughter, Anne Rose Deisley. She is survived by her son Hays Gorey, Jr. (Suzanne), Vienna, Virginia, her daughter DeAnn (DeDe) Barrigar (Larry), Salt Lake City, her son Thomas H. Gorey (Annette), Germantown, Maryland, her daughter Susan Gorey, Salt Lake City, nine grandchildren, Elisabeth Blair Gorey, Brooke Barrigar, Nonie Helen Barrigar, Matthew Wendell Barrigar, Erinn Louise Gorey, Shannon Elizabeth Trentadue, Kerry G. Hochberger, Lara Catherine Deisley, and Daniel Hays Deisley, and fourteen great-grandchildren.
Services will be held at Larkin Mortuary, 260 East South Temple Street, on Saturday, February 25, 2017 at 11:00 a.m. Family and friends may call one hour before the service, and a reception will follow at Town Club, 1081 East South Temple Street. In lieu of flowers, please send donations in memory of Nonie to Heart and Soul or the Anne Rose Deisley Scholarship Fund at Rowland Hall-St. Mark's School, both in Salt Lake City. Guestbook to post tributes and messages for the family at www.larkinmortuary.com.