Shelleys to be honored for work with historical society, military service

Lara Bangerter | Lehi Free Press

Bruce Glen Shelley and Judy Ann Hansen Shelley have devoted much of their time to the Lehi Historical Society. Judy was one of the four founding members of the nonprofit, along with John Haws Jr., Rhea Lewis and Lynette Harris. The Shelleys are often behind the scenes honoring Lehi citizens, especially military veterans, and supporting the disabled community.

Bruce Shelley left high school before graduating to enlist in the Army to avoid getting drafted in 1969, as his father advised him. After basic training, Bruce was sent to Fort Shafter Hawaii for the special data analyst training program. From there, he went to Long Bien, Vietnam, where he transposed military data to a secret code to keep it from falling into the hands of the enemy.

After retiring from the Army, Bruce worked as a welder, then a mail carrier. He now volunteers at Lehi Historical Society. He and Judy travel the country touring state capitol buildings and learning about our nation’s history.

Judy has spent her adult life serving and advocating for people with intellectual disabilities and brain injuries. Her son, Douglas, was hit by a car while riding his bike when he was only eight years old. Judy was a single mother of four children when the accident occurred, but she made time to volunteer as a committee member of the Acquired Brain Injury Work Group. During that time, the group helped change the state law and improve eligibility criteria for individuals with acquired brain injury for Utah’s Medicaid Community Based Brain Injury Waiver Program.

Judy loves history and is a military biographer. She has interviewed several veterans and written 64 military biographies. Judy has also written and published four family history books as well as carefully researched a biography of her great-great-grandfather. As a member of the Lehi Historical Society and president of the executive committee, Judy oversees the Lehi Heritage Day Honorees each year. She has also loved serving as an ordinance worker at the Mount Timpanogos Temple since April 2016.

Bruce and Judy were both born in the Lehi Hospital when the population of Lehi was less than 4,500 people. Almost everyone in town knew each other and were also probably related. Case in point, Bruce and Judy are fourth cousins.

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Bruce is the fourth of five children born to Glen and Mildred Carlson Shelley. Glen was a veteran of World War II, so he knew to advise him to join the Army instead of getting drafted. That act would keep Bruce off the frontlines, and the Army would get its full three years out of him.

Judy is the only girl in her family of three brothers. Her parents are John Peter Hansen and Marjorie Mae Gaisford. She left high school early and took an entry exam to start taking classes at Utah Technical College in Provo. She finished her degree in sociology while raising and supporting her four small children. She spent the happiest years of her career working as a case manager for people with intellectual disabilities and brain injuries. She has four children: Lalaina, Damon, Douglas and George.

Although Bruce and Judy dated for a few years in the 1960s, they went their separate ways and did not get married until July 5, 2021.