Kathy was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, and lived with her family in the home built by her Grandfather until she was 16. Her father was a farmer and one of her favorite memories was picking fruit with her family in the orchard in Bountiful. She was paid 10 cents per pound to pick cherries. Bottling fruit was fun when the whole family worked together with the promise of going to the Bountiful Drive-in if they could get all of the fruit canned before evening.
Kathy's mother was a talented musician. She made sure Kathy had piano lessons at an early age. When organ lessons were offered in the basement of the Assembly Hall by the Church organists, Kathy was enrolled in those lessons. She enjoyed practicing on her ward organ and was called to be assistant Ward Organist while in high school.
Kathy’s father instilled in his children a love for higher education. She started her college years at the University of Utah. After meeting and marrying her husband, she transferred to BYU where he was attending school. After finishing a year at BYU and giving birth to their first child, her husband was given the assignment to open the Church Education Program in San Francisco. Kathy was determined to finish her degree by taking summer classes at BYU and completing home study classes through the mail. The dream of graduating from college came true in 1968, when she received her B.S. degree and her husband received his Doctorate. A favorite pic
The next adventure for Kathy’s family was when her husband was assigned to be Rocky Mountain States Division Coordinator in Denver, Colorado. They bought their first home and it was a joy for the children to have a yard. They brought a horse and a milk cow with them to Colorado. Thanks to a friend who let them use his farm to house their pets, they had the best of all worlds. The Colorado Rocky Mountains, only an hour away from their home, provided opportunity to camp and hike.
While living in Colorado, the young family set some patterns that would follow them for the rest of their lives. The children began taking music lessons and playing sports, in that order. Family Home Evening, Family Council, and reading the scriptures together were started. Since Kathy’s husband was never on the bench with the family at church, the practice of sitting quietly through a FHE lesson helped everyone behave at church. Kathy always sat on the second row so that her husband could give the kids “The Eagle Eye” if they misbehaved.
Kathy’s husband went to Utah for General Conference the spring of 1975. He went to Cache Valley to visit a seminary teacher he had supervised in Colorado. The teacher took Lee to see some property “across the Blacksmith Fork River” that was for sale. Lee fell in love with the 25 acres and his dream of owning his own farm was in sight. He put a down payment on the property and then went about asking the Church to transfer him to Logan if a job to teach opened at Utah State. That opportunity came sooner than Lee and Kathy ever expected. A year later, the family put their home up for sale and moved to Hyrum, Utah. Since they had 7 children by this time, no one wanted to rent to them. An Institute teacher with a large family saw their need and rented a small home to them while they built their home in Nibley. It was a huge endeavor to get a right of way into the property and build a bridge across the Blacksmith Fork River. There were tons of rocks to clear and vines to pull down and burn. But, what a blessing to have work for the children and in the end a beautiful, private place to nurture kids, plant gardens
Some of the sweetest memories for Kathy are the times she and her husband served in church callings together. When Lee was Stake Patriarch, she was his scribe. Preparing spiritually for giving a blessing required fasting and prayer but it was worth it when the blessing was given and the spirit of the Lord was present. Teaching Gospel Doctrine class through all the scriptures was also a special opportunity. And, Scouts! Yes, with 7 sons, of course being Scout Master was part of it all. Kathy was 11 year old scout leader and since her husband was Scout Master, he did the camping with her boys. It was great for Kathy and Lee to see their sons and many other boys in the ward receive the rank of Eagle Scout.
Traveling to Israel and walking the paths of the Savior together was a treasured opportunity. One special morning they got up at 4:00 a.m. and went to the Garden Tomb. The Gardener opened the gate allowing them to sit quietly by the tomb and to think of Jesus being resurrected in that land of Israel.
After living a life of good health, in 1987, Kathy’s husband’s health suddenly failed. After having surgery for colon cancer, Lee’s health didn’t improve. A year later he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. He had to retire early from teaching. The little farm proved to be the medicine to help him live for an additional 26 years. Kathy was blessed with support from family, especially from a son and daughter-in-law who lived in their basement and helped with Lee for 8 years. There were others who helped her in the later phases of Lee’s illness with transporting him to church and back, bringing the sacrament to their home, or tending him so Kathy could go to her peaceful place, the temple.
Kathy’s last day with her husband was just prior to leaving to attend Women’s Conference in Provo. She visited Lee in the nursing home and explained she would be gone for 3 days. He smiled and said, “Don’t worry, Kathy, I will be fine.” Lee’s smile was a gift because he hadn’t smiled very often for years. While Kathy was at Women’s Conference, on May 4, 2013, Lee passed away into a much better world where he could once again walk, ride a horse, and teach a lesson. Lee and Kathy were 3 months shy of their 50th wedding anniversary.
So, what does a single woman do with a 25 acre farm? After trying to take care of it for a year, Kathy’s family decided it made sense to sell the farm and move her closer to family. Although it was extremely hard to leave a place that she and her husband had built from scratch and where her 39 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren loved to come to visit, it was the right decision. Landon, her youngest son, provided a beautiful home in his basement for his loving mother. Best of all, Kathy says she is near the grandchildren she loves!
Kathy’s enduring love and her self-sacrificing spirit are something that we can all smile about. I cannot wait to get to know her even better as she teaches us as one of our most recently called Relief Society teachers. Her wisdom and strength are going to be such a blessing to so many of us. I hope to grow up to be like her!
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