JaNel Anderson Bay

JaNel Anderson Bay, surrounded by her family, passed away on September 6, 2016, in Bountiful, Utah. She was born to Oliver Martel and Vera Knudsen Anderson on March 3, 1935, in Junction, Utah. She grew up the third child in a close-knit family of eleven children. She married Elvon Leone Bay in the Salt Lake Temple on August 19, 1954. They lived in Vallejo and San Diego, California while Elvon finished his military obligations to the Navy.  She attended the University of Utah for a year along with Elvon before her first child was born but afterward wholeheartedly devoted herself to mothering and homemaking.
JaNel was an avid gardener. Many family members and neighbors relied on her to nurse sick plants back to lush health. Her vegetables and apricots not only fed her year-round but also ended up on the plates of many friends, neighbors, and family members. She was passionate about being a good steward and left the soil richer everywhere she lived.
She nurtured people every bit as much as she did plants. She and Elvon moved often as he pursued career opportunities in construction management. They lived in Salt Lake City, Utah; Canoga Park, California; Chula Vista, California; Seattle, Washington; Lake Zurich, Illinois; and Bountiful, Utah.  In the midst of these frequent uprootings, JaNel provided cheerful, optimistic support for their seven children. She cared for grandchildren when they needed a home, and nursed Elvon and then her mother in their final illnesses.
She instilled in her children a love of books and ideas and encouraged all of them in their academic pursuits. For many years she enrolled regularly in Institute classes and was a regular participant in her book club.
She served devotedly in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She held many callings in Relief Society, in Young Women's, and in Primary. For the past two years she has been a beloved Primary teacher. At the time of her death she was a temple ordinance worker, as she had been for twenty-four years, first at the Salt Lake Temple and then at the Bountiful Temple.
She is preceded in death by her parents, her husband, and siblings Kent Anderson, Betty Anderson, Boyd Anderson, Boyce Anderson, Randall Anderson, and foster brother Mike Haskie. She is survived by siblings Alcea Slack, Sonja Bailey, Vernon Anderson, Sara Roper (Glen), and Robert Anderson (Nikki); by her children, David Bay (Coleen), Lisa Farrell (Randy), James Bay (Ariel Blair), Joanne Brzinski (Ted), Annette Pimentel (David), Stephen Bay (Nicole), and Nathan Bay (Alicia); and by 31 grandchildren, 34 great-grandchildren, and 5 great-great grandchildren.
A viewing will be held Friday, September 16 from 6-8 PM at Russon Brothers Mortuary, 295 N. Main St., Bountiful. Funeral services are Saturday, September 17 at 2:00 at 102 East 1400 South, Bountiful. There will also be a viewing at the church immediately before the funeral, from 12:40-1:40.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Church Humanitarian Fund.