Retha Llewelyn

1944 - 2025

- Retha Colleen Oviatt Llewelyn was born on April 28, 1944, to George Herman Oviatt Jr. and Dolly Eva Watts in Wellington, Utah.

The family moved to Carbonville, Utah when she was quite young. She graduated from Carbon High School in 1962.

Retha married Rodger Llewelyn on January 21, 1966 (later divorced). The marriage produced three children. After the divorce she worked very hard to maintain a strong relationship and support system with Shawn, Bryant, and Miranda.

She moved to Salt Lake City right after high school and got a job working with the phone company. She told us that it was her incredibly neat, draftsman-like handwriting that got her the first promotion. She stayed with the phone company for the entirety of her career. Her job took her all over the country, especially in the 1980s with Bellcore and Bell Systems as a Network Planner and Systems Analyst in financial planning, engineering, and software development.

In 1990 she was offered early retirement when Qwest did a corporate restructuring, she jumped at the opportunity and immediately moved back to Utah to be closer to family. The phone company had required extensive travel throughout her career, and she said she would be just fine if she never had to fly anywhere ever again once she retired. She did not stay completely retired though, she did work for a few more companies in the next 10 years where she could apply her extensive knowledge in project and financial management, but on a far less stressful level.

In the early 1990s she moved to Manti, Utah to be close to her parents, to be there when needed as they advanced in age. While in Manti she worked for the South Sanpete School District. When it got to the point that her parents were no longer able to stay in their home and needed to move, Retha moved back to Murray, Utah. She continued to be active in the care of her parents.

Throughout her career with the phone company, Retha would make trips numerous times each year to visit her children and extended family in Utah, staying with her sister and brother-in-law, Annette and Craig Niebuhr, in Murray, Utah. These visits created a strong bond between Retha and the entire Niebuhr family. This fostered a strong support system for Retha and her children, especially for her daughter Miranda. This support system continued her entire life and continues still for Miranda. Her relationship with her nieces and nephew, Melissa, Nicole, Kristin, Jason, and their spouses and children were a huge bonus in her life. Retha loved the large family gatherings with the entire Oviatt family that included her parent, her siblings, their spouses, and all of her nieces and nephews and their children. In the last couple of years as the family grew exponentially these gatherings became larger, and with age her body had slowed down some, so it was harder for her to attend them, but she always wanted Miranda to fill her in on all of the details of who was there and how they all were doing.

In the last year of her life she remained as active as she could, tending to her yard, shoveling snow, and rarely sitting down, although physical activity became more difficult, it did not keep her down! She was working in her yard and tending her garden up until the day that she left us. She was not happy about losing some of her independence and not being able to just jump in her car and run to errands. She was a very independent person her entire life, though she appeared to most as quiet and unassuming, she was strong and did not let anything stop her. She did not like having to rely on Miranda or others to help her with some of her needs. Her mind was as sharp as ever, and her sense of humor was as witty as we all remember, and she always stayed positive.

Retha was an introvert; she never was a social butterfly. She did not have a large social circle, but the friends she had were very special to her. She never liked to be the center of attention, preferring to blend into the background. Miranda tried to talk her into buying a bright colored car once, she opted for white, stating she preferred to be inconspicuous. She had a strong sense of right and wrong, and wanted everyone to be treated with fairness and respect. She taught her daughter to stand up for herself, to know that knowledge is power, and that she can do anything she put her mind to. She continued to study her entire life, learning how to use the internet to research things was very empowering to her.

Retha is survived by her children - Shawn (Tasha), Bryant (Amy), and Miranda (James), grandchildren - Justin, Tyler, Nathan, Zachary, Mackenzie, Raleigh, Holland, Chase, numerous great-grandchildren, sisters – Deola Kimball and Annette (Craig) Niebuhr, brothers Ted (Bonnie) Oviatt and Roger (Vickie) Oviatt, Brother-in-law Wayne Jones, and many nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents - Herman and Eva, her sister Vatia Jones, and granddaughter Brette.

Funeral services will be held on Friday, June 27, 2025 at 11:00 am at Jenkins-Soffe South Valley, 1007 W. South Jordan Parkway, South Jordan, Utah, with a viewing from 9:30 – 10:45 am. Interment Elysian Burial Gardens. Online condolences may be shared at www.jenkins-soffe.com.