Joan Nancy Bratt Jex, 86, died peacefully December 27, 2023, after many years of coping with the difficulties of Alzheimer’s and age. Joan was born and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah, and after many years was back in Salt Lake at Auberge at Aspen Park.
Joan was born July 29, 1937, to Jack and Hilda Bratt; she attended South High School and graduated from the University of Utah with a BFA in 1962. Joan also trained in geological drafting. She married William (Bill) Jex in 1962, and they moved to San Francisco in 1964. They both served in the U.S. Peace Corps from 1966 to 1968 and lived in Europe from 1968 to 1972 where Joan freelanced in art. Joan and Bill later divorced, but they remained dear friends until her death.
Returning to the U.S. in 1972, Joan began an MFA at New York University and she also started interning at local radio and TV stations in the city. She became a camerawoman at WWOR in the 70s, when there were very few (if any) others; certainly she was the first woman to work a camera for NY Mets games. She was then hired by WABC and soon promoted to various positions, finally landing at ABC’s “Good Morning America,” where she worked as a director and as a producer for 25 years. She produced many of her television shows on location, outside of New York, and also outside of the U.S., so she traveled often, far and wide.
During this period Joan nurtured her desire for the outdoors and the company of “critters”; she purchased a property in Warwick, Orange County, New York, upstate about 50 miles from NYC where she built a house, a barn, and a corral for animals — which she soon filled with a couple of horses, some goats, sheep, and dogs and cats. She commuted to work in the city for several years. She retired from ABC in 2010 and settled into her home in Warwick where she had plenty of tasks to keep her busy: hay fields to harvest, a pond to aquify, a garden and grape arbor to manage, and other animals to feed and care for. But it was all work she loved and she went about it with gusto and devotion. She dutifully exercised her horses, training them in her indoor ring and even competed in dressage. Keeping herself employed, she took in horses to board and taught art at the local elementary school.
She is preceded in death by her parents and her sister, Barbara Meyer, and niece, Laura Layton. Her survivors include her niece, Debbie Meyer (spouse Charles Musick) and her nephews David Meyer (Penny Young-Meyer) and Mike Layton.
In lieu of flowers, make a donation to a charity for animal rights and care of your choice.