Susan Faye Pettingill Myers Wright Obituary (1943

After a valiant 3-year fight against metastatic breast cancer, Susan F. Wright, 78, went back to her heavenly home. Her last days were spent with all 5 of her children and many of her grandchildren gathered around her bedside sharing memories, laughter, and tears. Affectionately called “Fast Faye” by her family, Sue was born in Eugene, Oregon on June 17, 1943, to Mary O. (Pettingill) Myers. She was raised by her mother and grandmother, Verne May, in Eugene, Salt Lake City, and Beaver, Utah. In her youth she enjoyed physical activities, particularly tennis, and loved spending time with friends and family on the beach. Sue graduated from BYU with a BA in Physical Education in 1965. She was the first member of her extended family to graduate from college. During her senior year, she competed on the BYU Women’s Bowling team where she met David Norman Wright, who participated on the Men’s Bowling team. They started dating and were later married in the Salt Lake Temple on August 20, 1965. They moved to Portland, Oregon where David attended University of Oregon Dental School and Sue taught PE at Roosevelt High School. Sue coached the girls’ tennis team to a state championship. Sue found even greater success off the court when her influence encouraged two of her players to go on and attend college against all odds. She remained lifelong friends with several of her high school players. Sue had the first of their children while she and Dave resided in Boston, where the new Dr. Wright had taken an internship. Sue spent her time there serving as the dorm mom to 40 women at Mt. Ida Women’s College. The family moved to Provo, Utah where Dave set up his dental practice. They moved close to David’s grandparents, Kathryn and T. Earl Pardoe. Sue developed a very close relationship with Kathryn and cherished her as a friend, confidant, and mentor. The young family which included 4 more children grew up visiting Kathryn every Sunday until her death in 1988. Sue enjoyed lots of sports and Dave and Sue are “true blue” BYU sports fans. Every football and basketball game they were in the crowd cheering. They could rattle off facts and figures about players and strategy. Their home became the “away game” party house. Their party status became legendary when during the 1984 Holiday Bowl the KSL TV crew came to their house to film a clip to show on national TV: Dave and Sue had their 3 minutes of fame. Since tennis had become a large part of Dave and Sue’s social circle, the family moved closer to the tennis courts in Provo. Many happy hours were spent with teammates, tennis couples, going on tennis trips together, and at parties. Sue would say later in life, “I gave my knees to tennis” after an injury kept her off the courts. Sue taught her children to work. Saturday chores happened every Saturday to the tunes of Neil Diamond. They learned to can vegetables and fruit, paint fences, tend the garden, and got roped into most of Sue’s projects. Sue was a party planner extraordinaire and between BYU football game parties, tennis parties, and ward friend parties the phrase the children dreaded most was, “We need to clean the house for the party.” Sue’s mother, Mary, had taught her skills in industry and hard work. Making items for the two of them was imperative as finances were limited. As a young married mother, Sue took sewing classes to learn to sew clothes for herself and her family. It soon became her passion and the start of a lifetime of service through crafts, projects, dresses, coats, and anything she could dream up or copy. Humanitarian projects were a particular joy to her. Her kids would often assure her that there wasn’t a country on the planet that didn’t have a blanket “Made by Sue.” One of her signature creations was a “coat of many colors” that was made out of ward members’ old ties and carefully crafted together with her friend Jan Godfrey. They won an award and the opportunity to have it displayed at the Art Museum for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. For the last ten years Sue became very skilled in making high-quality aprons and selling them at craft fairs around the state. Sue created and sold around 8,000 aprons during that time period. This sewing project gave Sue’s life purpose and fulfillment in her later years, and she deeply enjoyed the people with whom she shared her talents. Sue spent countless hours serving her family, friends, strangers, church projects, and professional organizations. Sue always said, “I can do that.” In 2003, Sue was awarded a Distinguished Service Award from the Alliance of the American Dental Association where she served the members and those she came to care about. The happiest day of the year for Sue was Christmas morning. She spent countless hours and months thinking, preparing, and making gifts for everyone. It brought her such joy which radiated from her as she watched people open her carefully thought-out gifts of love and time. Sue had a deep desire to serve Jesus Christ with the talents and skills she was blessed with. Sue had a will of iron coupled with a strong sense of right and wrong. She spent many years serving in the women’s organization called the Relief Society for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Their motto is Charity Never Faileth. Sue’s hands were the epitome of this phrase. She used her hands to fulfill her missions here. Susan is survived by her husband, David Wright; a younger brother, Greg Myers; two half-brothers, Dave and Neil Pettingill; her five children: D.C. Wright, Meredith (Taylor) Oldroyd, Melissa (Travis) Guest, Marci (Dave) Jones, and Jeremy (Angie) Wright; 25 grandchildren, and 3 great-grandchildren and counting. Though her family is sad to part with her for now, they are overjoyed that she is now resting, pain-free, and enjoying the company of many loved ones who passed on before her. A viewing will be held from 10-10:50 a.m., Thursday, November 11, 2021 at the Berg Drawing Room Chapel, 185 East Center Street, Provo, Utah. The funeral will follow at 11:00 a.m. Interment, Provo City Cemetery. Condolences may be expressed to the family at www.bergmortuary.com. Please consider a donation to the Humanitarian Aid Fund of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Sue’s honor at https://ldsp-pay.ldschurch.org/donations/church/humanitarian-services/humanitarian-aid-fund?cde2=475-home&lang=eng. A video recording of the service will be available for delayed view on the Berg Mortuary website at https://www.bergmortuary.com/obituaries/Susan-Faye-Wright/#!/PhotosVideos.