Colleen Clyde Mantyla

1927 ~ 2013
Colleen Clyde Mantyla, age 85, passed away on March 3, 2013 from complications due to Alzheimer's Disease. She was born on Sunday, May 8, 1927 (Mother's Day) in Heber City, Utah to John Ellis (Pete) Clyde and Emma Cummings. She was the oldest of four children. Colleen had a hard childhood, which formed her attitude about hard work, service, and improving the lives of others which served her well throughout her life. Her grandmother had her baptized into the LDS church when she was 8 yrs. old. When she was 13, she became like a mother to her 3 younger siblings while her mother recovered from health issues. At age 16 she became the bookkeeper for her father's tire business. She graduated from Wasatch High School in 1946. She attended college at the University of Utah where she joined Delta Delta Delta sorority and studied dietetics. Colleen learned how to sew at an early age and remodeled clothing to fit her small figure. This love of sewing continued throughout her life. At the U., she was 1st runner up to the Freshman Queen. When the royalty was presented to the fans at the football stadium, Donald G. Mantyla, saw the attractive, golden-haired girl and told his buddy, "I want to date that girl". Later at their sorority/fraternity exchange, they met and began dating. They both worked at the Salt Lake Tribune while attending the U. When Don left for dental school in Chicago, they continued to write and were married on December 23, 1948 at Zion's Lutheran Church. Upon graduation from dental school, Don and Colleen returned to practice in Utah. They moved to Roosevelt in 1951, where they lived for the next 23 years and raised their 3 children. Colleen worked as his office manager. The family spent summertime weekends at their cabin in the Uinta Mountains and year round weekends in Salt Lake City, where they had season tickets to Ballet West, the Utah Opera, Pioneer Memorial Theater, and U. of U. football and basketball events. In her later years, she and dad had season tickets to the Utah Jazz and loved to go together. Mom constantly looked for ways to serve others and to beautify the world. She loved to teach, especially children. When it was time for her daughter to learn to sew, she invited the 10 neighbor girls to join them. Likewise, when it was time to teach cooking, she taught the neighbor girls also. She ran endless carpools while her children were in school. Mom didn't waste anything. She was a champion recycler before it became chic. She loved to garden and preserve the food. Besides gardening a ¼ acre behind her house, she also farmed an acre on the outskirts of town. She refused to gossip or listen to gossip and, therefore, she was trusted by those around her. She had a quick wit and saw humor in all things. She had an uncanny gift for reading people and within minutes of meeting them knew if they could be trusted. Even though she had every right to brag about herself, she disliked hypocrisy and those who "tooted their own horns". When in Roosevelt, she was PTA president for nine years while her kids were in school, finishing as the county PTA president. Whenever she saw something she thought needed to be done, she would put herself in charge. From raising money to build the community swimming pool, raising money to build a new high school auditorium, heading up the county talent show, or hosting the queen pageant tea. Mom was tenacious and could and would overcome any obstacle. She was involved in community service all of her life. She joined Socialette Club, which was a service club that was part of the General Federation of Women's Clubs and went on to hold every office in the club in the Uintah Basin District. After moving to Salt Lake, she joined Ladies Literary Club and continued to be a member of GFWC, where she held many offices and finished by being Salt Lake District President. She was presented the Clubwoman of the Year Award in 1981 by the Salt Lake Tribune. She became involved in P.T.A. where she was president of each school organization and served as County president. She was also president of the Utah Dental Auxiliary (the dental wives organization.) She was a volunteer for the Uintah Basin Chapter of the Utah Lung Association where she was chairman for 10 years and then was on the state board of directors for 15 years. She also served on the board of the Utah Tuberculosis Association and the Utah Mental Health Association for many years. She liked working in the medical field and traveled with the Duchesne county nurse, giving medical treatments to those who needed it. Because of that service, she was chosen as the Outstanding Lay Person Contributing the Most to the Medical Field in the State of Utah in 1974 by the Utah Medical Association. Mom loved opera and it was her dream was to sing with the Metropolitan Opera Company. In Roosevelt she sang with a double quartet. She also performed her own mini concert with her vocal teacher. After they moved to Salt Lake, she sang with the Jay Welch Chorale for about 8 years. She also wanted to design and sew the costumes for all of the performances. She was very creative and talented. Besides sewing and singing, she loved to read, especially history. She loved to knit and made everything from baby booties to a lady's suit. She also enjoyed interior decorating, ceramics, oil painting, arranging flowers and making Christmas tree decorations. She seldom watched T.V. but when she did, it was always, the History, Discovery, or Travel channels. Even though, she was not considered "active" in her ward in Roosevelt, she taught the Cultural Refinement lessons for eight years. Mom was so proud when Meredith and Donald decided to join the LDS church in 1973 and were followed by Don and Marty five months later. The family was later sealed together in the Salt Lake Temple. She loved being "a big fish in a small pond". In 1975, Don sold his dental practice and moved to Salt Lake City where he became a real estate broker, an insurance broker (while their 3 kids served missions) and, finally built Professional Insurance Exchange, the dental malpractice insurance carrier for Utah. Colleen and Don were avid travelers and visited 39 countries in the Orient, Scandinavia, the British Isles and the Soviet Union. In 1992, they retired and served a mission to Temple Square, where Don directed the activities of the Legacy Theater while Colleen booked all of the tours on Temple Square. In 1998, they served a mission to the Orlando Florida Temple. Upon returning from Florida, mom kept herself busy doing genealogy, compiling family histories, and doing temple work, putting scrapbooks together and doing club work.
Mom was well loved by all and will be sorely missed by her family. Colleen is survived by her husband, Don, of 64 years; her children Donald (Sue) Mantyla and Meredith (Dan) Geertsen and preceded in death by son, John Martin Mantyla (Launa Wyson); 14 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren; siblings, Dee (Eileen) Clyde, Donnette (Reed deceased) Hewitson , John (Ann) Clyde.
The family would like to express a special thanks to Inspiration Hospice for their wonderful and unselfish service and to Sunrise Assisted Living and their dedicated and loving staff.
Funeral services will be held Friday, March 8th at 12:00 Noon at the Holladay North Stake Center, 4395 South Albright Drive (2145 East). Viewings will be held Thursday evening at the Holbrook Mortuary, 3251 South 2300 East, from 6:00-8:00pm and at the church Friday morning from 10:30-11:30am prior to the service. Interment is at the Heber City Cemetery, Heber City, UT. Services entrusted to Holbrook Mortuary.
Condolences may be shared at: www.HolbrookMortuary.com