Elizabeth Washburn Claflin

On Saturday, June 14th, 2025 our amazing, wonderful, and angelic mother, sister, wife, and best friend Elizabeth Washburn Claflin of Hendersonville, Tennessee peacefully and unexpectedly died in her sleep. She was 56.
Born Kelly Carina White in Sonoma, California on August 19,1968 she was adopted by her Uncle Thomas and Aunt Joann Washburn at the age of five after her parents' deaths. Liz and her older brother Rocky (David) were both sealed to the Washburn family in the Mesa Arizona LDS Temple and raised alongside nine other children in Snowflake, Arizona.
Together with her twin siblings Liz graduated from Snowflake High School in 1986. She worked in a molding mill to save up money to pay for her college tuition at BYU in Provo, where she graduated with a bachelor's degree in psychology in 1991.
It was at a college dance where Liz met the love of her life, a young recently returned LDS missionary named Scott Claflin. The next night he asked her out and when she opened the door and saw him "all cleaned up and without that stupid backwards cap," she was smitten.
They dated four months and were married for all eternity January 14,1989 in the Mesa Temple.
While Scott continued his education, Liz worked in a variety of jobs from a sweatshop clothing factory to a graveyard shift in a rest home. They lived in Salt Lake City and Salinas, California before eventually settling down in Orem, Utah.
Liz gave birth to five beautiful sons--one son and four not-daughters-whom she loved, protected, reared and counseled full-time. When the nest was finally empty, Liz set about becoming the world's greatest real-estate agent, until she and Scott moved to Tennessee to be near her grandchildren, whom she adores.
Beloved by virtually everyone who ever met her, Liz has a way of making people feel comfortable, valued, heard and loved. It is but one of her many gifts.
Her work ethic, designer's eye, brutal frankness, endearing laugh, love of gardening, tireless charity and boundless compassion are a few of the others.
She is survived by husband Scott, Sr. and their five sons Christian (Darbee), Josh (Jess), Matthew, Scott, Jr., and John.
A memorial service will be held Saturday, June 21, 2025 at 11am, at the LDS Chapel at 1360 E. Main St., Gallatin, TN.
In lieu of flowers, the family has requested for donations to be sent to the following link. Please copy and paste to your web browser:
https://venmo.com/u/ChristianClaflin