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Dream Team: A sweet surprise for a Salt Lake City woman still working at age 91

Posted at 7:57 AM, Mar 01, 2022
and last updated 2022-03-01 11:21:54-05

SALT LAKE CITY — Joyce Downward doesn’t like to miss a day of work. She works three to four days a week at Cummings Chocolates in Salt Lake City.

“It keeps her young at heart, and it keeps her moving,” said her daughter, Leisa Lingwall.

“I told her, ‘well mom, maybe you can quit working and we can go to the senior center and start taking some classes and stuff’, and she told me ‘I’m not old enough to go to the senior center,” Lingwall said.

Joyce has worked at Cummings for more than 20 years, and prior to that, she worked in the insurance industry. The only thing that slows her down these days is that she no longer drives.

“If I can’t get a ride, I can’t get here. I can’t walk that far. I walk every day, but not that far,” Joyce said.

Friends, family members, and co-workers have been helping with rides, and when the FOX 13 Dream Team received a nomination for Joyce, we wanted to help too!

FOX 13’s Kelly Chapman dropped in on Joyce while she was making Toffee at Cummings. Along with family members and Dream Team partners who were in on the surprise, Joyce was gifted with flowers, dinner at a restaurant, and $1,000 in Uber gift certificates to allow her to catch rides to or from work as needed.

If you know someone who could use a visit from the Dream Team, fill out the nomination form at the top or bottom of this page. Tell us the story of the person you are nominating, as it might be told on television, and suggest a gift.

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