Karel McDonough

1944 - 2025

Karel Joy Doop McDonough

December 19, 1944 - December 6, 2025

- Karel Joy Doop McDonough returned to her Heavenly Father on December 6, 2025, surrounded by the family she loved and who loved her beyond measure. After 81 years of a life lived fully and faithfully, she was called home for a joyful reunion with her parents and all those who went before her. Her husband Gregory Myron Smith McDonough and her seven children were at her side as she passed this earthly plane.

Karel was born on December 19, 1944, at Minidoka County Hospital in Rupert, Idaho, to Earl Marion Doop (1893 - 1991) born in Casey, Iowa, and Lorna Lucille Doone Thompson (1903 - 1983) born in Shellsburg, Iowa. She was a surprise blessing to her mother and father and sisters Rita Earlene and Ruth Vivian, who were already grown with children of their own. She grew up on the Idaho ranch along the Snake River in Rupert, working with her "Daddy" - a name she called him with tenderness her whole life - where he raised dairy cattle, grew potatoes with horse and plow as she would play with the horses and farm animals, and also with her dolls dressed in homemade clothing sewn by her seamstress mother.

Karel grew up to be a baton twirler in the high school marching band, and also learned to play the drums, which, as a girl, was progressive at the time. She was a Campfire girl, active in 4-H, and became an accomplished horsewoman. She attended Idaho Junior College, where she trained as an opera singer, adding to her considerable musical gifts, which also included piano and percussion.

She married Kenneth "Kenny" Eugene Moller on June 16, 1962 and they were avid skiers, using the rope tow at early Sun Valley, worked the Idaho fire towers together in her early desire to become a forest ranger, and spent countless hours on the slopes and in the mountains of Southern Idaho. During that time she became a young mother to her eldest son Kelly. She and Kenny lived in the apartment above the garage of his parents' home (Wilbert "Bill" H Moller and Velva Margaret Duffin Moller) in Rupert. She and Kenny eventually attended University of Utah and traveled between Salt Lake and Rupert. Sadly, Kenny passed away in a tragic car accident during those early years of college. She continued her undergraduate studies while she earned her degree in Psychology and served as President of the Utah Marching Band, played percussion, and was a member of Tau Beta Sigma. As a young mother, her early determination, leadership and musicality began to shine through, while at the same time being a newly widowed young mom to her son Kelly.

Soon thereafter, she was set up on a blind date with Gregory "Gregor" McDonough by his friend and co-worker at Intermountain Ambulance. They hit it off instantly and married on September 9, 1967 at Log Haven in Millcreek Canyon, Utah. She wore a light green wedding dress, which was indicative of her maverick style and a nod to her Scots-Irish roots and new McDonough Irish name. They began building what would become a family of seven children, scouting, football, urban farming and big family shenanigans. She required all of her children to play at least one musical instrument and she was a cub scout den mother, and a proud mom of Eagle Scouts (Shea and Evan).

At the home where she raised her family, which was a large lot in the 9th and 9th neighborhood of Salt Lake City, she maintained the irrigation water rights that were developed by the earliest Mormon pioneers of the Salt Lake Valley, and was an ardent protector of those rights up until her death. She and her husband and kids farmed using irrigation methods she'd learned from her Daddy in Idaho, and she would teach all that would inquire about irrigation methods, water rights, gardening, honeybees, growing raspberries, and the medicinal uses of food and flowers. She canned every year and cultivated grape vines on her chain link fence on 900 East for over 50 years, making her famous grape juice and lemonade drink for the annual family reunion 24th of July picnic at the beloved family home of over half a century. She loved Navajo silver and turquoise jewelry, a love sparked by her foster daughter Stephanie Keith of Kayenta. She spent the last few of her years teaching her children the stewardship of the land and water she had tended her whole life, and which her daughter Darby, and sons Tye and Quinn intently learned and carry on in their own homes.

Together, Karel and Greg raised seven children, which she would often sing in order: "Kelly, Shea, Darby, Casey, Tye, Evan, Quinn". They also helped raise a foster sister, Stephanie Keith. She designed a home that was a place of experimentation, curiosity, and joyful chaos. She taught her children to eat fresh from the garden in summer and from canned goods in winter, just as she had learned on the farm in Idaho. She kept honeybees throughout her life and became a sought-after presenter on beekeeping, gardening, and the medicinal benefits of food. Her gardening and farming knowledge and generosity blessed her neighbors and community for decades.

Karel was a woman of uncommon civic vision. She ran for the Utah State Legislature, served on the board of the Tracy Aviary at Liberty Park, was an early organizer of the Salt Lake Neighborhood Housing Services (NHS) in 1977, helping with neighborhood revitalization efforts, serving the 9th and 9th and Liberty Park neighborhoods that she loved deeply.

A convert to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Karel embraced the restored gospel with the same wholehearted spirit she brought to everything. Her testimony of Jesus Christ and His plan of salvation only deepened with time. She served faithfully in many callings throughout her life, including Sunday School teacher, Young Women leader and camp counselor, and assisting her husband Greg, the scoutmaster, with all things scouting and youth football. At the Park Stake roadshow in the 1980s she was dubbed "The Energizer Bunny" because she had limitless energy.

After her children started finishing high school at East High, where she ran the day care for young mothers, and as they began leaving home and serving missions, Karel returned to school while she took a job as a housekeeper at The Cliff Lodge at Snowbird Ski Resort, giving her the ability to continue to ski and give her children ski passes to share her love of snow and the mountains. She earned a Master's Degree in Education Administration from University of Utah, plus an additional 60 hours, to teach music. For 25 years, she taught junior high band, marching band, jazz band, and orchestra at Brockbank Junior High School in Magna, Utah, where she also supported the theater program. Her bands won awards. Her students adored her. She retired in 2016, leaving a legacy of young musicians that would recognize her in far away places years later, telling her how much she helped form their lives with music.

Music was Karel's lifelong offering to the Lord. She played in the Mormon Youth Symphony under her music professor Jay Welch, from 1969 through 1999, with her husband helping her load her large timpani and percussion equipment to and fro. She accompanied the ward choir, played for funerals and weddings, and filled her home with music, always. She served for decades as the ward pianist and organist in the 31st Ward of Salt Lake City, which later became the 1st Ward where she would play the organ loud, nudging the congregation to sing louder. Karel was playing the organ at sacrament meeting up until the Sunday before her passing.

Karel's creative, irreverent spirit brought joy and light to all who knew her. She was never conventional, always faithful, forever curious, endlessly surprising. She survived five heart attacks over the course of her later life, each time defying expectations and returning to the people she loved with the same fierce energy. She combined deep devotion with an indomitable heart. She loved books, learning, musicals (especially The Music Man, Singing in the Rain and anything written by Irving Berlin), and for many years traveled to Conn-Selmer Institute at Notre Dame for music and instrument manufacturing and history. She treasured her daughters-in-law for how deeply they loved her sons, and for all the grand and great-grandchildren they blessed her with and that she adored and loved with all her heart.

Karel was immensely proud of her American heritage. Her father Earl was a World War I veteran. His grandfather served in the Civil War, and his grandfather before him fought in the Revolutionary War. Karel was a Mayflower descendant and spent countless hours in the genealogy building helping build her family tree in the 1970s at LDS President Spencer W. Kimball's urgent request, preserving these family histories for generations.

She was immensely proud of her family that served in the U.S. Military, including her husband and sons who continue the family's tradition of military service: Evan, a Green Beret, and Casey, a Utah National Guardsman.

Above all, Karel loved her family. She loved her Heavenly Father and her Savior, Jesus Christ. Her testimony was her legacy, woven into everything she grew in the garden and every song she played.

On December 6, 2025, surrounded by her family telling her they loved her, Karel was finally called home. Even at the end, her spirit was remarkable - she sat up one last time, to come back again and say "I Love You". This time, she went home to stay.

We are grateful for the Plan of Salvation and the promise of eternal families. What a glorious reunion she must be having now.

Karel is survived by her eternal companion, Gregory Myron Smith McDonough; her sons Kelly Moller (Jeri), Shea (Carrie), Casey (Grace), Tye (Martha), Evan, Quinn (Jessica); daughter Darby and foster daughter Stephanie Keith; 17 grandchildren and 7 great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her first husband, Kenneth Eugene Moller; her mother, Lorna Lucille Doone Thompson; her father, Earl Marion Doop; and her sisters, Rita Earlene Crouch and Ruth Vivian Brown.

~ Funeral Services

A viewing will be held Sunday, December 21, 2025 from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., at the First Ward, 1078 South McClelland, Salt Lake City, Utah, 84105, United States.

Funeral services will be held Monday, December 22, 2025 at 11:00 a.m., at the First Ward, 1078 South McClelland, Salt Lake City, Utah, 84105, with Bishop Conner Peterson presiding.

Interment will follow at the Taylorsville Cemetery in Taylorsville, Utah.

~ In lieu of flowers, the family gratefully accepts contributions toward the service.