Rest in Peace, dear Sister Lauretta Swansborough

Lauretta Jeffery J. Swansborough, wife, mother, grandmother, daughter, sister, friend and talented artist, passed peacefully at her home surrounded by her loving and attentive family in the early morning hours of Wednesday, May 3, 2023. 

One of six children born to Edgar Hale Jeffery and Laura Wyora Hunter, Lauretta came into the world on May 10, 1954 in Delta, Utah where she spent her joyful childhood.  She and George Patrick Swansborough were married on December 10, 1993 and in July 2012, they were sealed in the St. George Temple for time and all eternity. She was a life-long active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints serving the Lord and His children in numerous callings.

Professionally, Lauretta was a beautician and esthetician. After training at Hollywood Beauty School in Kearns, UT and opened her first salon, “Lauretta’s Buttons and Bows,” in Salt Lake City. Her last business was “Hair Free Electrology” in St. George. 

Artistically, she was multi-talented. She loved spending time on-stage as an actor or director in local community theater and loved entertaining audiences with her stand-up comedy routines. Lauretta always loved singing and writing music.  She delighted in her time as a member of John Houston's Gospel Choir and Lieto Voices in southern Utah; and particularly enjoyed singing with her husband Pat in any of several local bands.  Lauretta took 2nd place in “Dixie’s Got Talent” with her rendition of “Fever.”  She was also an artist and a talented seamstress, making everything from baby blessing outfits, crocheted blankets, and baptism dresses to beautiful wedding dresses for family members.  

Her greatest joy was raising her children where she loved always being in the thick of things.  Her favorite place to be was with some or all of her nine kids practicing spelling words and multiplication tables, designing science fair projects, and helping with book reports. 

Lauretta is a mother of nine, grandmother of 25, and great-grandmother of 4. 

Interment is at the Washington City Cemetery.

Til we meet again, Bishop Bruce Williams

Husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, son, brother, uncle, and bishop Dr. Bruce Call Williams, age 80, passed peacefully into eternity on Monday, April 28, 2023 at his Bloomington home with his loving family at his bedside.

 

Born in Provo, Utah to LaMar S. and Nyal B. Williams on December 21, 1942, a teenage Bruce graduated from West High School. He served an honorable mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints in Johannesburg, South Africa, then attended the University of Utah.  While there he went on a blind date with the 1^st runner up to the “Belle of the Y” set up by one of his best friends attending BYU.  He always said marrying Anita Louise Johnson was one of three things in life for which he was certain.  The other two certainties in his life were the absolute certainty his grandkids were made for him … and a puppy one of the kids brought home was meant for him, too.

 

Two children - Angel and Greg - soon blessed the young family while the future doctor continued his studies at the University of Utah graduating with a degree in medicine in 1970. He then enlisted in the U.S. Army and served in Germany for 4 years. Soon after his return to the U.S., the Williams’ second son Nathan joined the family.

 

Medicine was his great and true passion.  This skilled surgeon was recruited by Dr. Craig Booth and Dr. Norman Fawson as the first General Vascular and Thoracic surgeon in St. George. His successful surgical practice opened in St. George in 1978 allowing him to provide his surgical prowess at the St. George Surgical Center on Bluff Street and a myriad of other care clinics in southern Utah.  It was also in St. George where the Williams’ family was completed with the birth of youngest daughter Mandy.

 

Among Bruce’s many accomplishments, he served as a delegate for the Utah Medical Association, a member of the Governor’s Task Force for Domestic Violence, Chief-of-Staff at Dixie Regional Medical Center, a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and selflessly as a beloved Bishop for the Bloomington 7th Ward. 

 

In his limited spare time, he loved water and snow skiing, gardening, fishing, traveling, stamp and coin collecting, and attending any sport or activity involving his grandchildren. He loved watching basketball avidly following Dixie College to a National Championship in 1985 but he also always cheered for the Utah Jazz, even in their bad years. He was a true storyteller and always had a unique way of captivating his audience. 

 

Dr. Williams is survived by his beloved wife, Anita Louise; his children: Angela Ann Williams, Bruce Gregory (Rachael) Williams, Jon Nathan (LoraLynn) Williams, and Mandy Lynn (Mason) Wells; his siblings: LaMar (Mary Kay), Roger (LeAnn), Steven (Lana), Gloria Yeates, Michael (Tammy), and Jerry (Kaylene); as well as 12 grandchildren and 6 great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents; sister, Marilyn (Don) Brady; brother-in-law, John Yeates; and grandson, Ian Paulson.

 

Dr. Bruce Williams was a man loved by many and who will be greatly missed by all who knew him.  He is interred at Lakeview Memorial Park in Bountiful, Utah.

Jed Rane is baptized "according to the commandment which He has given"

On Saturday, April 29, 2023, 8-year-old Jed Rane stepped into the baptismal font at the Bloomington Stake Center alongside his dad Mark Rane to receive his first ordinances as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  He was surrounded by family, including his mom Kat, sister Julia, brothers Graham and Levi and Uncle Peter Rane, as he joined them as the newest member of the Bloomington 7^th Ward in the St. George Southgate Stake.

This student at Bloomington Elementary, who just completed 2^nd grade loves reading, hunting for reptiles, playing games with his friends and family and climbing in the beautiful southern Utah outdoor

According to his momma, he is determined, strong, funny, bright, a fast runner, artistic, and also loves to build things and make up jokes, but he tends to be shy around adults.

 “They are they who received the testimony of Jesus, and believed on His name and were baptized  after the manner of his burial, being buried in the water in his name, and this according to the commandment which he has given …”