Common Roles/Uncommon Lives

Elizabeth Ann Inouye Takasaki has given a life of service, starting from her humble beginnings in Gunnison, Utah where she learned from her parents how to work and serve, to her on-going civic and church service throughout her lifetime. Ann has served in various organizations and committees including Intermountain Healthcare

Historian and writer, Anne Leavitt authored Southern Utah University: The First 100 Years, and three Leavitt family histories: From Hingham to Hatley, From Hatley to Home, and Those Who Bade Goodbye. Mother to six sons, including Mike Leavitt former Utah Governor, and grandparent to 38 grandchildren Anne places strong emphasis

Beatrice Gray Christensen was a pioneer in the era of electricity. She demonstrated the electric stove for Utah Power and Light and helped care for the crews as they installed power stations across the state.

Camilla Kimball (1894-1987) is respectfully remembered as a highly intelligent, independent thinking woman with an eager mind for learning and a passion for life. Wife of LDS Prophet, President Spencer W. Kimball, she served alongside him, and was an influence for good to many. Committed to excellence Sister Kimball viewed

Wife of Chief Ouray and primary representative for the Uncompahgre Utes in helping to negotiate a treaty with the United States government in 1880. The treaty was precipitated by an event a year earlier in which a group of White River Utes killed eleven men and took several women and

Donna Packer met her husband, President Boyd K. Packer, when they were students at Weber College. They were married in July of 1947 and are the parents of 10 children. She is a strong supporter of education and family history work.

Dora Lopez is a mother who sacrificed much in order to cross the U.S. border to improve her life and the lives of her posterity.

Doris Judd lives a life of sacrifice and service with an attitude of optimism and humor. Turning the challenge of needing to continually uproot her growing family from one remote location to another into an ongoing adventure for her children, she was able to support her husband’s Air Force career

A leader in the women’s club movement, Royle founded and was the first president of the Ladies Literary Club, the first Utah women’s club affiliated with the General Federation of Women’s Clubs. Born in Columbia, Missouri, Royle moved in 1871 to Salt Lake City, where she remained for the next

Ellen James volunteered for many organizations including Timpanogos Storytelling Festival and the 2002 Winter Olympics. She also worked for Senator Mike Lee’s campaign and currently serves in his Washington D.C. office.

Greek midwife and, according to Helen Papanikolas, “the most important member of Utah’s Greek immigrant community and a symbol of the color of uniqueness of Greek immigrant life.” Through the course of her life, Mageras — or “Magerou,” as she was called — served her countrymen and other underprivileged immigrants

Courageous pioneer woman who buried her first husband and four sons and who crossed the plains to Utah in 1848. She was also one of the few pioneer women to keep a journal. Morley eventually settled with the first group of pioneers in Manti, Utah. There, along with her second

Hedvig Marie Olsen Jensen (1823-1914) was born in Denmark and with great sacrifice immigrated to Utah in 1863. She married Hans Christian Jensen in 1846 and together they had eight children. She loved music and played the violin to the delight of her family.

Helen Smith, raised during the Great Depression, learned at an early age the value of personal responsibility and hard work. She benefited from the example of her mother and other women in her community who were models of resilience and resourcefulness. Helen is a gifted singer and loves directing music.

Irene Ellison was born in 1923. As a young adult during World War II she learned certain characteristics that have guided her throughout her life. She acquired a sense of resourcefulness attributed to her “strong pioneer heritage” and her mother, who lived during the Great Depression. She also developed a

Jan Chamberlin has her private voice degree from BYU where she studied with acclaimed dramatic opera tenor, the late Ray Arbizu. She teaches in both musical theater and classical styles, and has over 30 years of voice teaching experience. Jan has performed in venues for recitals, house concerts, and musical

One of the first black settlers in Utah. Born in Wilton, Connecticut, James joined the LDS church as a teenager and moved to Nauvoo, Illinois, where she became part of the household of Joseph Smith. James finally settled in Salt Lake City with her husband Isaac James. When Isaac left

Janis Lindley grew up in a large family in Cache Valley, Utah. Her father’s job with US-AID also afforded her family the opportunity to live in Bolivia for several years. During this time Janis was able to learn from people of many different ethnicities and religious backgrounds, which helped her to

Jaynann Payne was named Mrs. Utah in 1968 and the second runner up for Mrs America. As a motivational speaker, mother of 12 children, and a delagate in 1977 for the International Women’s Year, she has spent her life in the service of others.

Julia Caswell was born under the oppressive environment of communist Bulgaria. However, her family was able to leave when her father was transferred to Algeria for a 2-year work assignment. Not wanting to return to Bulgaria at the end of that period, the family, through a series of miraculous events,

Kathleen Larsen was born and raised in California. From a young age, she was immersed in music. She spent evenings singing with her father while cleaning dinner dishes and was inspired by an elementary music teacher to play the cello and sing in the school chorus. She began directing a

LaRae Savage grew up in American Fork, Utah. She enjoyed being involved in many high school activities, including dancing with the Cavettes, being the yearbook editor, and serving as secretary of her senior class. She is a devoted mother of four children. LaRae served in the PTA at her children’s

Lorna Adler (1907-2013) taught at BYU for 35 years in the Education and Art Colleges. She was called to the LDS General Board of the Sunday School where she served for 19 years, and was responsible for writing many of the manuals used for the children of the church. She

Margaret Dayton has been recognized as the longest serving woman in the history of the Utah Legislature, but she does not promote that as her greatest contribution to society. She is first a wife and mother. She reflects on her time working as a registered nurse for several years, and

Margaret Yee was born in China in 1939. She immigrated to the United States in 1962. After arriving in Utah, Margaret married and had four children. Margaret and her husband opened the Jade Cafe’ in downtown Salt Lake City and were successful in the restaurant business for over 50 years.

Maria Mejia is a loving mother who braved the perilous journey across the U.S. border in order for her children’s quality of life to improve.

Muriel Allridge has lived her life committed to family, church, and community. She has served in various LDS Church leadership positions and as PTA president twice. She is an accomplished pianist and former piano teacher. Her daughters describe her as the perfect example of a woman, who has served others

Olive Osmond (1925-2004), affectionately referred to as, “Mother Osmond,” mother of the Osmond singing family is remembered for her love of learning, family, and others . She established the Osmond Foundation charity, now called Children’s Miracle Network, which raises funds for children’s hospitals, medical research, and community awareness of children’s health

Patricia LaRue Jolley Hales was born in Provo, Utah. She married Don “C” Hales and together they raised eight children and two foster children. Her deepest devotion was to her family. Patricia was an advocate for those without a voice, particularly children. She served in the PTA at the local,

An unsung Mormon woman of the nineteenth century. Shortly after her marriage, Sessions stepped in, untrained, to help her sick mother-in-law deliver a baby – the first of 3,997 babies she would deliver over her lifetime. Sessions converted to Mormonism in 1834 and moved to Nauvoo, where she experienced a

Patty Timbimboo Madsen is a Native Utah Shoshone who is committed to teaching and preserving cultural resources including the native language. She is the current Cultural & Natural Resource Manager for the Northwestern Band of Shoshone and is intent on keeping water sources clean and free from chemical wastes for

Rebecca Devitt Welch was a dedicated, gentle, kind and loving mother of five that gave her full attention to her children’s upbringing. She compiled nine volumes of scrapbooks for her children prior to her death from cancer in 1995.

Sandra Covey grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah as one of six children. Music has always played a large role in her life. At the age of seventeen, she participated in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir’s tour through Europe. While on that trip, she met her husband, Stephen R. Covey,

Mother of eight and grandmother of 33 grandchildren, Shana Montgomery views family as more important than anything else. Shana holds a BA in English, and authored Esther Romania Bunnell Pratt Penrose: An Uphill Climb, the story of Utah’s first female doctor – published in Colleen Whitley’s book, Worth Their Salt Too. A

Shirley Ferguson Matthews was raised on a farm and learned from an early age the value of hard work. Inspired by her mother’s example, she places motherhood as her most valued accomplishment. A recent cancer diagnosis, along with a successful treatment program, consequently left her more appreciative of life and

Sui Ying Lew was born in China in 1926. She immigrated to the United States with her husband. He unexpectedly passed away, leaving her with four young children to raise in an unfamiliar country. Sui Ying worked multiple jobs to sustain her family. She shares how friendly and accepting her

Suzanne Pinegar is the third child of seven (7) from Spanish Fork, Utah. She attended Brigham Young University and studied Early Childhood Education. In 1974, she married Alan Osmond in the Provo Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and has eight sons and 27 grandchildren. Suzanne

Olympic athlete representing the United States at the 2004 Summer Olympics held in Athens, Greece, where she finished 20th in the heptathlon. Prior to the Olympics, Hogan was a ten-time All-American and won the NCAA championship in the heptathlon in 1997 and 1998. She also won the gold medal in

Ann Takasaki

Anne Leavitt

Beatrice Gray Christensen

Camilla Kimball,

Chipeta

Donna Smith Packer

Dora Lopez

Doris Judd

Eliza Kirtley Royle

Ellen James

Georgia Lathouris Mageras

Hannah Blakesley Finch Morley

Hedvig Marie Olsen Jensen

Helen Smith

Irene Ellison

Jan Chamberlin

Jane Manning James

Janis Lindley

Jaynann Morgan Payne

Julia Caswell

Kathleen Larsen

LaRae Savage

Lorna C. Alder

Margaret Dayton

Margaret Yee

Maria Antonieta Mejia

Muriel Allred Allridge

Olive Osmond

Patricia LaRue Jolley Hales

Patty Sessions

Patty Timbimboo Madsen

Rebecca Devitt Welch

Sandra Covey

Shana Montgomery

Shirley Matthews

Sui Ying Lew

Suzanne P. Osmond

Tiffany Lott Hogan