Florence Smith Jacobsen

1913 - 2017

Florence Smith Jacobsen
1913 ~ 2017
SLC, UT -Mom was born of goodly and godly parents, in Salt Lake City, the second child of Florence Grant and Willard Richards Smith, on April 7, 1913. She stepped through the veil on Sunday, March 5th to greet her husband Ted, son Alan, parents, seven siblings, Willard (Bill), Bryant, Howard, Richards (Dick), Heber, Sarah and Paul. Mom left behind two sons, Stephen (Pat) and Heber (Christine), nine grandchildren and twenty-two great-grandchildren. She was just 5 weeks shy of her 104th birthday.
Dad called her Flo; to her parents, siblings and cousins she was known as Sis; to her sons and daughters-in-law she was Mom and Grammy; to her grandchildren and great-grandchildren she was Grammy, Gram, or Grammy Florence, and to her nieces and nephews she was Aunt Sis. Her associates in the YW called her Sister Jacobsen and Florence. She was courageous, strong, reliable, loved, opinionated, committed to excellence and dedicated to her beliefs. She loved the Gospel of Jesus Christ and bore testimony of the truthfulness of The Book of Mormon and the mission of the prophet Joseph Smith Jr.
Mom was educated at the LDS High School and the University of Utah where she was affiliated with the Chi Omega Sorority. In 1994 she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate for her years of service in the Church. After graduation from the "U", mom worked for the Salt Lake Knitting Works where she designed clothing and made samples of her designs.
Her life was spent in service to her Church, support for her family and her community. At the age of 102, while in one of her dying periods, she expressed a strong desire to meet Joseph's brother Hyrum Smith (her great-grandfather). She loved serving in many Church callings. Some of those callings were: Young Women's Advisor, Eastern States Mission Mother, Young Women's General Board, Young Women's General President, Church Delegate to the National Council of Women, Third Vice President of the National Council of Women, Delegate to the International Council of Women, Vice Treasurer for the International Council of Women, Church Curator and the first Director of the Church History Museum. Mom loved history and especially the study of period furniture and decor. She received the Junius F. Wells award for her work in the preservation of many LDS historical sites.
Her most notable efforts in preservation and restoration were: the establishment of Church History Museum, the promotion of the "Promised Valley" musical and its staging on the Church parking structure east of the Salt Lake Temple and the restoration of the Promised Valley Playhouse (the old Lyric Theatre). Mom lived in Manti during the remodel of the Manti Temple and was responsible for the acquisition of its pioneer period furnishings and finishes. As Church Curator she worked on the restoration of the Joseph Smith Sr. frame home in Manchester, New York, the Peter Whitmer Store in Kirtland, the Brigham Young Home in Nauvoo, and sponsored the Church acquisition of the Brigham Young Home in St. George in trade for the State acquiring the Brigham Young Farm Home and moving it to the "This is the Place State Park". The Jacob Hamblin Home in Santa Clara was restored and furnished under her direction.
When Mom became General President of the YWMIA her predecessor informed her that the Lion House and Beehive House were now her responsibility. She learned that the Church building department intended to remove both buildings as part of the new Church Office Building and underground parking garage. She set to work with the Church President and his Counselor to save the buildings. She was successful and undertook their restoration, the re-establisment of the basement restaurant, the rental for weddings and the children's birthday party events. She also compiled the first "Lion House Cook Book" with many of her own and her family's recipes.
In 1960 Dad acquired a cabin on Hebgen Lake, Montana. Damaged by the 1959 Yellowstone earthquake, it was rebuilt with a new kitchen and three new bedrooms. It became a haven for Mom and Dad. They entertained many friends and family. She loved the cabin; it gave her pleasure to boss us around and a chance to show off her cooking skills. Mom was a great cook. She was of the opinion that the Lion House was a better restaurant when they were using all of her recipes.
Mom and Dad's Barona Road condo in Palm Springs was her wintering home. Dad would golf and perform Temple Sealings. Mom would cook, sew, read, write, garden, entertain her neighbors, rest and visit local restaurants. She loved this area and all her neighbors and their Ward.
Mom was not blessed with daughters. She missed having natural daughters but filled that need with her "mutual girls" in the Bonneville Ward. She remained in contact with them right up through her 102nd birthday. She hosted a luncheon for them in her home every year. One of her "mutual girls", Marilyn Jackson Clawson, continued to take Mom on a fall color drive every autumn. She also loved doting on her son's wives, her granddaughters and her late sister's daughters Linda, Marie and Sally Tanner.
The last few years Mom required around-the-clock help. The family is especially grateful for those special girls, Cristina Rosa, Alessandra Costa, Viviane Oliveira and the Brighton Home Health & Hospice nurses that provided her exceptional care.
A viewing will be held at Larkin Mortuary, 260 East South Temple, on Friday, March 10 from 5 PM to 7PM. Funeral Services will be held at the Ensign Stake Center 135 North A Street, Salt Lake City on March 11 at 11:00 AM. The Funeral Services will be preceded by a viewing from 9:30 AM to 10:30 AM at the Stake Center. The Family requests that in lieu of flowers please contribute in Mom's name to the Jacobsen Scholarship Fund, c/o Deseret Trust, 60 E. South Temple, Suite 800, Salt Lake City, Utah 84111, attention: Monica Stewart. Online condolences and memories are welcomed at www.larkinmortuary.com.