Thella Brock

1921 - 2013

Thella Wilson Brock

St. George

Thella Wilson Brock died April 9, 2013 in St. George, Utah, closing a happy life of boundless interests and multiple activities. She was born in Tridell, Utah, May 8, 1921, to Seth and Alta Morrill Wilson. During World War II she met and married Daniel W. Brock, from Los Angeles. They bought a home in Los Angeles and raised a family of seven children.

Thella attended schools in Tridell, Roosevelt, and Brigham Young University in Utah, and completed a bachelor's degree in teaching at Cal State L. A. in Los Angeles, California. Upon completing her education in 1970, she taught in Los Angeles Schools. After Dan died in 1985, she continued teaching until retiring and moving to St. George in the summer of 1988.

Throughout her life Thella filled numerous church callings with commitment and enthusiasm. Being a Seminary Teacher was one of her favorite callings, teaching off and on for many years. She loved the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. After moving to St. George, mother faithfully served two missions. Thella's faith in God and her firm understanding of the Plan of Salvation gave her the strength and courage to endure and overcome many trials in her life.

In 2004, BYU featured mother among "New Scholarship on LDS Women in the Twentieth Century," because of her twenty years of work as an informant for the FBI, she donated her Journals and notes to the BYU Library.

She taught her family and others of the great blessings of freedom bestowed by God on this country. She had a firm testimony our Constitution was divinely inspired. She believed our freedoms should never be taken for granted, and that freedoms given by God can be lost by citizens who are not engaged in protecting them.

Often Mother said, her "posterity" was her greatest blessing. She and Dan raised seven children. Her husband and oldest son, Daniel, preceded her in death. Her children, E. Lawrence Brock (Joyce), Greta "Jill" Beitler (Terry, deceased), Henry Seth (Julie), Draza Esplin (Terry), George Jay (Michele), and Wendell Walter (Taunie), daughter-in-laws Jan, Katie, Karen, and Christine, and Marsha (deceased). They had 44 grandchildren, and currently have 52 great-grandchildren, with many more blessings on the way. She loved children and they loved her. She will be missed by those who know her and love her. Her family is grateful for the knowledge that she is home safe in the arms of a loving Father in Heaven and her beloved husband Dan.

Services for Thella will be on Monday, April 15, 2013 at 11:00 am at the LDS Chapel located at 400 East 100 South. There will be a viewing from 9:30-10:30 am prior to services at the church. Interment will be at 2:00 pm in the Toquerville Cemetery.

Arrangements are made under the direction of Spilsbury Mortuary, (435) 673-2454. Friends and family are invited to sign Thella's guestbook at www.spilsburymortuary.com.