Helen Cracroft White

Helen Grace Cracroft White 1926-2011

Dearly loved and loving dearly, our beloved wife, mother, grandmother, sister, and friend, Helen Grace Cracroft White sweetly and quietly left her earthly home on July 27, 2011, surrounded by all of her children singing God Be With You Till We Meet Again. Mom had been active and involved in living until last Friday, when she was hospitalized with a short illness. Helen was born at home in Salt Lake City, on September 8, 1926. The only daughter of Ralph and Grace White Cracroft, Helen adored and revered her two older brothers, Laurance and Paul, but felt an almost maternal bond with her younger brother, Richard (Dick). She made lasting friends as she attended school at Wasatch Elementary, Bryant Jr. High, East High and the University of Utah. During the war, she waited for her brother and friends to come home, then met a newly returned B-29 pilot and immediately fell in love forever. On June 27, 1947, she was married to John Louis (Jack) White in the Salt Lake Temple by Elder Spencer W. Kimball. They soon moved to Rose Park, where they made many lifelong friends. A few years later, they moved to Bountiful where lived for 51 years. Together, they had nine children who grew and laughed and felt so loved in their home, and whose spouses were treated just like children by Helen and Jack. Their children gave them 42 grandchildren and 71 great-grandchildren who loved visiting Grandma White and experiencing her wonderful rolls, roasts, stories, laughter, and love. Mom was an amazing cook and homemaker who exemplified the saying be here so well that even one time is often. She wrote countless articles, skits, poems, programs, histories, stories, and a column in the Bountiful 20th Ward newsletter by the Radiant One for most of 50 years. Her memory was legendary. She loved traveling, and delighted in all of the countries and beautiful places she visited. In 1987 she served with Jack as a missionary in Switzerland, where her brother presided. Mom loved sharing the gospel and held numerous positions in every auxiliary. The DUP also had a special place in her heart. Helen was the first ward mother of the Bountiful 20th Ward. She lived a life full of joy and wonder for all of the places and people she had experienced. Mom eagerly went to the next phase of her journey to be with her eternal sweetheart Jack, who has been waiting for her since July 24th of 2000. She was excited to see her mother and father, two older brothers, two aunts, and a host of friends and relatives. She reluctantly left behind her brother Dick and sister-in-law Jan. Grateful for her incredible presence in our lives are her children, Mark and Carolyn Zaugg, John and Rae Ann White, Lee and Marilyn White, Kathleen and Russell Castleberry, David and Julie White , Richard and Carolyn White, Laurie and Boone Hulet, Julie and Randall Holmgren, and Paul and Suzanne White. She will also be missed and remembered by her 42 grandchildren and their spouses and 71 great-grandchildren. Her nieces and nephews and their children also loved Aunt Helen. She will be remembered fondly by all whose lives she has touched. Mom and the family wish to express gratitude to the doctors, nurses and staff at LDS Hospital who mixed medicine with love and empathy, helping to create an environment that made Mom’s passing sweet. Her funeral will be Saturday, July 30, 2011, at noon at the Bountiful 20th Ward, 102 East 1400 South, Bountiful, Utah. A viewing will be held on Friday, July 29, 2011, from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm at the Russon Brothers Mortuary, 295 North Main, Bountiful, and on Saturday from 10:30 am to 11:30 am at the church in the west Relief Society room.