Phyllis Nelson

Richfield, Utah – On the beautiful autumn morning of October 15, 2022, in the early hours of the day, our kind and precious mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, Phyllis Colleen Ferguson Nelson, age 92, of Richfield, passed away in Monroe, Utah. She is now reunited with her Savior, Jesus Christ and her eternal companion, Joseph Garn Nelson.

Mom was born September 25, 1930, in Richfield, a daughter of Orian Randall and Marguerite Anderson Ferguson. She was 7 years old when her mother passed away. Her father then married Janice Joy Nielson. Mom grew up in Austin and Richfield and graduated from Richfield High School Class of ‘49. While in high school, Phyllis met her sweetheart, Garn Nelson. They became the best of friends and dated throughout high school. They were married June 24, 1949, in Logan, Utah. Their marriage was solemnized in the Manti LDS Temple March 13, 1951. To this union was born 5 children. Dad preceded her in death December 30, 2014. Their children and grandchildren are the love and joy of their lives. Mom’s radiant, Christlike love and beauty was always at the center of our family life, and all things joyously revolved around our beautiful Mom and Grandma. From simple, quiet moments at home, to family road trips or exotic travel with her best friend and husband, time spent with Mom was truly priceless. Mom's focus and goal, even in her early adulthood, was toward building an eternal family. She talked of this goal often - family is what is important. Eternal Family.

We lament Mom’s passing because her physical absence, laughter, humor, and love will leave a painful void during future family parties and vacations. Our hearts are broken; our loss brings great pain. We trust in the healing promise and reality of eternal families. We remain faithful in the Lord’s ability to repair broken hearts and make our loss whole.

Mom was a hard worker and made every penny count. Times were hard when we were growing up and Mom could stretch a dollar further than anyone. Material things were not important to Mom. She did not have a lot of nice things - but she did make a lot of things nice. She was a wonderful cook and she taught her daughters how to cook, clean house and take care of a family. Mom was an exceptional seamstress and enjoyed sewing, knitting, and crocheting. She made all her children’s clothing and some of her husband’s suits. They all looked like they were professionally made. She raised her children to be good, outstanding citizens and productive people.

Mom was very handy and could fix anything. If something breaks, she would exhaust herself to repair it before she sought to replace it. She enjoyed painting and was very artistic. She learned to barber and cut her family’s hair for many years. In her later years, she helped at the funeral home doing hair and make-up. She also answered the phones for the funeral home, where she was very caring and compassionate with people.

Mom’s selfless service and genuine care for family and home were paramount in her daily life. Mom created beauty, order, and love in literally everything she touched. Every meal, snack, treat or dessert she prepared tasted so good and always filled you with love. Mom had great joy and pride in adorning her home with beauty. She had such an artistic eye for home decor, and her home was always themed in style for every holiday. In all of Mom’s decor, most consistent was her desire to remind family and visitors of the reality of the Savior, Jesus Christ, eternal families, and God-given rights, freedoms, and blessings.

Mom set a great example of service for her family. She was always willing to give her neighbors a helping hand. She enjoyed the many friendships and associations she garnered through service. If there was ever anyone in the ward or neighborhood that needed help in any way, Mom was there to help, cooking food, cleaning the house, or just lending a listening ear. She was a very caring and giving person. Her actions always reflected her love and care for others. Mom was gifted with a natural, Christ-centered, discerning instinct. Countless times she quietly guided her children, friends and other people’s children to protection and helped them navigate to safer, higher, nobler ground. She deeply honored her maternal instinct and revered the Divine power she had as a mother to nurture, guide, protect and love unconditionally.

She spent her life in the service of others. Ever protective of God-given freedoms she always considered sacred, she had a very patriotic heart and loved and honored America. She always looked for the good in all people and their abilities to contribute well to society and build strong communities where they could succeed, thrive, and enjoy the countless blessings of freedom.

Mom was a lifetime member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ was at the center of her life. She willingly served in any capacity in which she was called and served in most organizations throughout her lifetime on both the ward and stake level, but the most important calling to her was always as mother and grandmother. She loved the Gospel and taught it to her children and grandchildren by word and example. She loved learning “by study and also by faith,” and instilled into her children a love of the scriptures. She had a deep love for the scriptures and enjoyed reading and studying them on a daily basis, especially the Book of Mormon.

Mom was an avid Temple worker and had a great love for Genealogy work. She and Dad worked in the Manti Temple Baptistry and also served as Ordinance Workers there for many years. The highlight of her life was when they served a full-time mission to the Toronto Canada LDS Temple from January 1998 to July of 1999, where they were able to use their experience in Manti to improve the baptistry in Toronto. They made many lifelong friends while working at the Temples.

Mom was proud of her pioneer heritage, and she loved sharing stories of our ancestors. She belonged to the Daughters of Utah Pioneers (DUP) Camp Sevier Utah, where she served in all the offices. They went about doing good in the community while they enjoyed each other’s company. Friendships played a prominent role in Mom’s life, and her monthly lunch dates with dear friends were some of her most treasured moments. She enjoyed her Family Home Evening groups and cherished the friendships she had with everyone there. But most of all she loved her children and ADORED her grandchildren and greats.

Phyllis Nelson was many things to this world: seamstress, barber, neighbor, and friend, but to the ones that matter though, she was a comforting shoulder; a sounding board for an idea; a phone call away when you needed to talk. She was there for you when you needed someone, an example of patience, virtue, and love. We will miss her words of advice, her loving spirit, and her kind heart. May we all strive to be more like her, serving our fellow man, becoming closer to God, and gaining the knowledge that we will see her again. Until we meet again, Mom — we love you and will always be grateful for your profound companionship, influence, love, example, friendship and faith.

Mom is survived by her children: J. Patrick Nelson of Richfield; Brenda and Dave Bell of Pleasant Grove; Marie and Bruce W. Turner of Richfield; Gene and Maralee Nelson of Saratoga Springs; Jon and Mariah Nelson of Buda, Texas; foster daughter, LaVerne Crocker of Salt Lake City; 25 grandchildren; 87 great-grandchildren, with 2 more on the way (that we know of); 13 great-great-grandchildren; her siblings: Gloria Gay Bibe of Taylorsville; Jeanine Leone of Salt Lake City; Burke and Verla Smith of Mt. Pleasant.

She is preceded in death by her parents; her husband Garn; and a brother: O. Robert “Bob” and Inez Ferguson, and a great-grandson, Oliver Wanlass.

A special thanks to Jean McCoy, Mom’s very best friend, who was always there to help out and visited with her at the assisted living center in Monroe several times each week. Mom also thought so much of Tom and Ruthanne Brown, their son Gavin, and the rest of their family for their Christlike service to her and was always grateful for the things they did to help in so many ways.

We, as the family, would like to extend a heartfelt thanks to the staff and nurses at Monroe Assisted Living, including Bryan, Christi, Sue and all the CNAs, for their kind and tender care they gave our dear Mom during her last months of life. They were very helpful and patient with her. They made her feel like she was in her own home. Also, thank you, thank you, thank you to the wonderful team from Intermountain Hospice for all they did to make Mom’s last days more comfortable, especially Blake, Charlie, Doreen, and Doug. You all are truly Angels here on earth!!! We are forever in your debt.

Funeral services will be held Saturday, November 5, 2022, at 11:00 A.M. in the Richfield East LDS Stake Center, 805 North 500 East in Richfield, where friends may call for viewing Saturday morning from 9:00 to 10:30 prior to the services.

Phyllis will be laid to rest next to her eternal companion in the Richfield City Cemetery under the care of her grandsons Matt and Michael from Springer Turner Funeral Home of Richfield and Salina, Utah.

FUNERAL SERVICES LIVESTREAM

Video will also be available at Facebook.com/SpringerTurner