Ruth Ipson Cannon Obituary (1920

Ruth Ipson Cannon, age 98, died on November 15, 2018, in Salt Lake City, Utah, of causes incident to age. She was born the fourth child in a family of twelve children to Parley and Sarah Ann Church Ipson, on Wednesday, June 16, 1920, in Panguitch, Utah. She attended schools in Panguitch and graduated from Garfield County High School in May 1938. Ruth was awarded a full tuition scholarship to the Branch Agricultural College (now Southern Utah University) in Cedar City, Utah. She married Kenneth Lynn Cannon in the Salt Lake Temple on August 7, 1942, with President George Albert Smith performing the ceremony. Ruth was a loving wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. She is survived by her five children: Ruth Lynne (Peter B.) Snow of Colorado Springs, Colorado; Constance Sue Holbrook of Salt Lake City, Utah; Jeraldine Ann (C. Bruce) Jones of Richardson, Texas; Nancy (Julian D.) Jensen of Salt Lake City, Utah; and Kenneth Lynn (Ann E.) Cannon II of Salt Lake City, Utah. She is survived by 17 grandchildren and 48 great-grandchildren. She is also survived by a sister Lena I. Wilson of Pleasant Grove, Utah; a brother Hyrum B. Ipson of Monroe, Utah; and numerous nephews, nieces, and their families. She was preceded in death by her parents, husband, four sisters, and five brothers. She proudly recounted stories about her Danish grandparents who were converts to the Church and walked across the plains. Ruth loved Panguitch, Bryce Canyon, and Southern Utah. Within a year after her marriage to Kenneth, Ruth moved to a small dairy farm in American Fork, Utah, to a home built by her husband before the home had a floor, roof, electricity, or plumbing. That first home was followed by moves to Cedar City, Utah; Ames, Iowa; Lincoln, Nebraska; and Provo, Utah. She and Ken also lived in Lubbock, Texas and participated in a semester abroad program to Grenoble, France. Her husband was a professor of Family Relations at Brigham Young University, and Ruth was a “true blue” fan of the Cougars. She lived for over 60 years at her home in Provo where she loved to entertain and garden. Ruth was an active and devoted member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, serving in many capacities as an officer and teacher in the auxiliaries, including ward and stake Relief Society presidencies. She helped organize and was the first president of the primary in Ames, Iowa. In 1982-84, she and her husband were missionaries to Perth, Western Australia. They served a short-term mission for LDS Employment Services and she worked in the Provo Temple. She also served a service mission at the Missionary Training Center in Provo. Ruth loved people and was an officer for both her high school and college classes. She served as both president of BYU Women Newcomers and as president of BYU Women, where she was later made an honorary member. She was an active member of Parent-Teacher Associations, even serving as the president of the PTA for BY High School in the last year of its existence. She was a member of Ferreters’ Guild, Thursday Club, Sunday Night Study Group, Western History Club, and Odd Quads. Ruth outlived her friends (and these clubs), but she never forgot them. Ruth grew up during the Depression and was taught to work hard, laugh loudly, and be frugal by her parents—lessons that she, in turn, instilled in her children. She was a talented seamstress and loved to crochet, completing afghans for all her children and grandchildren not too long before she lost part of her eyesight to macular degeneration and the dexterity of her fingers and hands to arthritis. She is an amazing woman who loved life and was always fun. She often reminded her children that she was 10 years old before she went to Salt Lake City for the first time, but had lived on three continents and visited 24 foreign countries before she stopped traveling. Ruth loved seeing the beautiful people and places wherever she visited. She always said that “a smile is the same in any language.” Ruth lived the last year of her life with her daughter and son-in-law Nancy and Julian Jensen. The family thanks Nancy and Julian for assuming this responsibility and for the tender care they provided. Contributions may be made to the Ruth Ipson Cannon Endowment Scholarship Fund at Southern Utah University specifically established to assist female students from rural Utah or to the Humanitarian Fund at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m., on Saturday, November 24, 2018, in the Edgemont 2nd Ward, 555 East 3230 North, Provo, Utah. Friends may call from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m., on Friday, November 23, 2018, at the Berg Mortuary, 185 East Center Street, Provo, Utah, and at the church Saturday from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. prior to the services. Interment will be in the Eastlawn Memorial Hills Cemetery. Condolences may be expressed to the family at www.bergmortuary.com.