Ruth Elaine Jensen Reid

Ruth Elaine Jensen Reid passed away of natural causes on January 30, 2024 in Logan, Utah. She was 87 years old.

She was born November 24, 1936, in Huntington, Utah, to Keren Bartlett Morrill and Lloyd Grant Morrill. Her father passed away when she was nearly three years old. The family soon moved to Vernal and later Tridell in the Uintah Basin, where she spent most of her growing-up years. Her mother later married JR McKee, who was a good stepfather to Ruth and her siblings.

She attended Union High School in Roosevelt, where she met Charles Kent Jensen. They married on September 1, 1955, in the Salt Lake Temple. Together they had eight children. They lived in Provo, Utah while Kent finished his bachelor’s and master’s degrees, and later in West Jordan, Utah and Heber, Utah. In 1967 the family moved to Cheyenne, Wyoming, where they remained until Kent’s retirement in the mid-1990s. Kent and Ruth moved back to Utah when he retired, and they lived in Tremonton and Garland. They served missions for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City and Iowa Des Moines, in the city of Dubuque. They spent their last years at Williamsburg Retirement Home in Logan, Utah, which over time became Ruth’s home, her neighborhood and her second family. Kent passed away in 2018. In the years leading up to his death, Ruth was his devoted caregiver. They had been married 62 years.

Ruth remained at Williamsburg. There, she met George Franklin Reid. She married Frank on June 10, 2022, at the age of 85. Their time together was short, but it was clear Frank brought happiness to her last nineteen months.

Ruth’s life work was her family, and she did it admirably. She was a cook, a money manager and a hostess to the many people who came to dinner at the house in Cheyenne. She canned fruits and vegetables, and made sure her family was well-nourished on a budget. Not only did she raise eight children; she also served as an informal chauffer to her husband, who was legally blind. She was a great help and chauffer to her mother-in-law, who came to Cheyenne in the 1980s and later moved with them to Tremonton.

Ruth was a remarkable example of patience and love, traits that only seemed to grow with time.  Her hobbies included playing piano, which she did for her family and for many years at church. Her passion was family history work, which she pursued in the days when it was on paper and microfilm, and continued to do on computers and online.

In addition to serving her church missions, she served as a counselor in the Relief Society and held that calling at Williamsburg for six years, until the day she passed away.

Ruth seemed determined to squeeze every last drop of joy she could from her life, and her family will remember and try to live up to her example.

She is survived by sisters Kaye (Maurice Whitney, Deceased), half-sister Sara (Ralph Bowen), half-brother William (Connie) McKee, children Ilene (Gary Olson), Bruce (Theresa), Byron (Anne), Charles (Kristine), JoLynne (Bret Lyon), David (Stephanie) and Wesley (Christina), and by her son-in-law John Pearce, and second husband Franklin Reid. She was preceded in death by her parents; brothers Lloyd (Marjorie, deceased) and Stanley (Gwena) Morrill; half-brother Clayton McKee; five step-brothers and two step-sisters; her husband Kent; her daughter Valerie; and her great grandson Taggen Johnson. She is also survived by 26 grandchildren and 49 great-grandchildren.

A viewing will be held on Monday, February 5, from 10:30-11:30 am in the Tremonton Second Ward building, 300 S. Tremont Street, Tremonton, Utah. Funeral Services will follow at Noon. Interment will be at the East Garland Cemetery. The services will be livestreamed and may be accessed below.

Special thanks go to the residents and staff at Williamsburg.

DISCLAIMER: WE DO NOT PAN THE CROWD AND THE CAMERA IS FIXED UPON THE PULPIT. WE WILL TRY AND LIVESTREAM THE FUNERAL SERVICE. IF WE ARE UNABLE TO DO SO, DUE TO THE INTERNET SERVICE AT THE CHURCH, A RECORDING WILL BE UPLOADED WITHIN 24-48 HOURS AFTER THE SERVICE.