Mary Fern Morris Furniss, 4 September 1917

OGDEN – Mary Fern Morris Furniss died August 23, 2002 after a short stay at the Mount Ogden Nursing and Rehab Center. Her daughters were with her at the time of her death and wish to thank the care providers at Mt. Ogden for their kindness and support.

She was born September 4, 1917 inMalad, ID to Penelope Mary Williams and Hugh Conway Morris. She is survived by her sisters, Vella Bingham and Eva Jean (Milton) Wilcox; her brother, Ted (Rosemary) Morris; daughters, Kay (Dwight) Tiner, Chico, CA; Diann (Kent) Ellis, Layton; Vicki (William) Jackson, Ogden; Penelope (Archie) Phillips, Salt Lake City; and Randy (Douglas) Post, Plain City; 20 grandchildren and 35 great grandchildren.

She married Frederick William Furniss on June 16, 1934. Their marriage was solemnized in the Salt Lake LDS Temple in 1941. Fred preceded her in death by six months. Her parents, a sister, and two brothers also preceded her in death.

Mary and Fred spent the first 21 years of their married life in Westwood, CA where all of their children were born. She never lost affection for Northern California and visited family there as often as possible. Mary loved to travel and up until her health failed, looked forward to visiting friends and relatives in Europe and Asia as frequently as opportunity presented itself.

Mary was a loving and generous wife, mother, grandmother and friend. The concept of “family” was central to her life and her nurturing skills of cooking, sewing and decorative crafts were legendary to family and friends alike. To experience an “olekuchen”, “blarney stone” or piece of “tort” gave credence to her skills in the kitchen. Because of her love of family tradition and as the matriarch of a large and grateful family, she will be missed daily – but at Christmas and New Year our hearts will be full of her.

She was active in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and served in presidencies in all auxiliaries throughout her life. She also served as a temple worker in the Ogden Temple. She was a master teacher and took great joy in teaching the gospel.

Mary was an avid reader and kept current on local and world events. As a lifelong Democrat, she often stated that her friends could honor her at her death by “voting for a couple of Democrats”.

Funeral services will be held August 27, 2002 at Lindquist’s Ogden Mortuary. Interment, Lindquist’s Washington Heights Memorial Park.