Mary "Nita" Larsen

 

MARY JUANITA “NITA” WOOD LARSEN

1926 - 2023

Mary Juanita (“Nita”) Wood Larsen was born in Mendon, UT on March 12, 1926, to Alonzo Kimball and Florence Bowen Wood.  She had four siblings - Leah Ann, Florence Lorraine, Dorothy Rae, and Alonzo Gilbert.  All preceded her in death.

She attended Mendon District School, Wellsville Junior High, and South Cache High.

She worked at Logan Knitting Mills, California Packing, Box Elder Cannery, at a defense contractor in Ogden, and American Cyanamide in California during World War II, driving a forklift and loading bombs.

She married Marlin Smith Larsen in the Logan Temple on July 23, 1943.  They had three children:  Kent, Jennifer, and Zan.

Marlin and Nita taught at the Latter-day Saint Church College of Apia, Samoa, where Marlin was assigned to teach math and religion.  Juanita hadn’t expected to be involved at the school but offered to teach type, as there was a shortage of teachers.  They were in Samoa for three full years and had many wonderful experiences. They returned to Wellsville, UT in 1964. 

After a few years, they moved to Layton, where Marlin taught junior high math.  Juanita enrolled at Utah State University and commuted weekly, taking care of her ailing parents in Mendon while attending college.  After graduation, Nita taught at Crestview Elementary in Layton.

After retirement, they lived in Santa Clara, and then in Morgan, in the River Cove area.  Their neighbors were very helpful which allowed Nita to live alone several years after Marlin’s passing.  For the past couple of years, she lived with her son, Zan in Bountiful.  There she had the most wonderful Polynesian angels taking care of her - Monalisa, Lucy, Ita, Line, and others.  They became part of her family.

Always meticulous, Nita kept several photo albums containing wonderful memories of friendships, experiences, and milestones.  She was a provider, a very loving and generous woman, and was proud of her family.  She especially adored the great and great-great-grandchildren, always wishing to spend more time with them.  Her husband passed away in 2015.  She joined him on 26 October, 2023.

Nita is survived by her three children and their spouses:  Marlin Kent and Penny Larsen of Wellsville, George, and Jennifer Archibeque of Peterson, Zan and Misty Larsen of Bountiful; nine grandchildren; twenty-two great-grandchildren; and two great-great-grandchildren.  Her mortal tabernacle will be interred back in the town of her roots in the Mendon City Cemetery, Friday, Nov. 3, 2023 at 11:00 am under the direction of Lindquist’s Bountiful Mortuary.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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