Neva S. Smith

Neva S. Smith, 82, wife, mother and grandmother died unexpectedly on October 4, 2023, at her home in Orem, Utah.

Neva was born in Tooele, Utah, on June 29, 1941, to LeRoy and Zora Smith. She was the youngest of three children. Her sister Nada and brother Verl loved having a baby sister and told her many times that since she was the youngest she was the “spoiled” one.

Shortly after she was born, the family moved to Hailey, Idaho, and soon afterwards to Lehi, Utah, where she lived until she got married. When she was young, she enjoyed playing jacks, mumbly-peg and racing sticks in her father’s garden furrows. She also liked playing in her brother’s treehouse that he built in their backyard. Neva was very involved in school activities and was a cheerleader at Lehi High School. She enjoyed having many friends.

She married her sweetheart Larry Smith on August 26, 1960, in the Salt Lake Temple. They lived in Laramie, Wyoming, while Larry attended school for his Ph.D. In addition to raising their two young children, Neva would earn extra money by typing research papers for students.

Larry and Neva moved to North Salt Lake, Utah, in 1967, where they would build their home to live and raise their family of 5 children for the next 54 years.

Neva has always been a faithful and active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Throughout her life she has held many leadership positions in the church. Her favorite calling was serving the youth. She loved girl’s camp, especially the wilderness camp-outs, and enjoyed teaching the young women many valuable lessons.

She enjoyed sewing and worked on many projects with her sister Nada, including school programs, youth programs and church roadshows. Neva helped make wedding and prom dresses for her own daughters and many nieces. This talent served her well when her son Todd, who was born a dwarf, would need to have his own clothes altered throughout his life.

Neva loved biking and spending time with her family at Lake Powell, Snowbird, and many family vacations. She also spent a lot of time working on genealogy and has left behind a wealth of information for generations to come.

Neva was employed for Salt Lake City Corporation in the computer center. She made many good friends and retired in 2001. Larry and Neva moved from their family home in North Salt Lake to live with their daughter Celeste (Matt) Evans in March 2020. In July 2023, they moved to Covington Assisted Living Center in Orem where Neva started making friends and enjoying many activities especially bingo.

She will be greatly missed by everyone who knew her. She is preceded in death by her son, Todd, parents LeRoy and Zora, and siblings Nada and Verl. She is survived by her lifelong love Larry Smith, daughter Lisa Smith, daughter-in-law Kim Smith, daughter Lezlee Danner, son Shaun Smith (Darlene) and daughter Celeste Evans (Matt), 20 grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren and 1 great-great-grandchild.

Funeral services will be take place at 11:00 a.m., Thursday, October 12, 2023, at the LDS Orchard Stake Center, 3599 S. Orchard Drive, Bountiful, Utah. An evening viewing will be held from 6:00-8:00 p.m. Wednesday, October 11, 2023, at Russon Mortuary, 295 N. Main Street, Bountiful. A morning viewing will be held from 9:30-10:30 a.m. Thursday at the church prior to services. Interment will be at the Lehi City Cemetery, 1525 North 600 East, Lehi, Utah.

Services will be streamed live on the Russon Mortuary & Crematory Facebook page and on this obituary page. The live stream will begin 10-15 minutes before the services and will be posted below.