JennaVee Redford Bishop

With profound sorrow it pains our family to announce the passing of our witty and wonderful mother, grandmother, and sister. Her peaceful departure, so difficult for those left behind, is tempered by the treasured satisfaction of knowing she lived a righteous and dutiful life. Our collective grief, slow to abandon, will surely dissipate in the faith that she is now in the loving embrace of those she lost so long ago.  A child again in her parent’s arms; a curly-locked young girl laughing with siblings and friends in the tall grass of summer; and finally, a lovely bride dancing once more with the adoring husband taken much too soon some 36 years ago.

Her journey began in a modest house in Rose Park, a small suburb located just west of Salt Lake City, Utah.  Born on Friday, the 28th of November 1930 – the day after Thanksgiving and during the height of the great depression, to Orson and Delora Redford, she was the fourth child of eight born.  Sadly, her older sister by a year, Marie, who Jenny never got to know, passed away the year before (1929) at the tender age of just eight months. Times were not easy for the burgeoning family in this economical challenging era as Orson provided as a painter and wallpaper hanger until his untimely death in 1943.  At a time when working women were the anomaly, Delora, a widow and mother of now seven children, was forced to seek employment to keep them housed and fed.

A close knit group, the Redford children, four boys and three girls, bonded tightly within this crucible of adversity. They displayed great love and affection for one another as they grew older and went their separate ways. They spoke often over the phone and made considerable effort to see each other frequently throughout the years. Many of our family vacations concentrated around trips to California, Idaho, or Texas to visit her brothers who had moved to these states.

She was an excellent student at West High School and emphasized her scholastic focus on acting, writing, speech, and of all things… archery.  Her skills as a seamstress, taught by her mother, gave her the opportunity to make and wear nice new clothing that gained the praise of classmates and teachers alike. Upon graduation she attended LDS Business College where she matriculated to become a Key-Punch Operator and worked in the field for approximately ten years.

Several years after high school, while attending a Stake Conference at the Assembly Hall on Temple Square, she caught the eye of a young gentleman seated close by. After a mutual friend introduced them she noted at the time that she felt he was the man she would ultimately marry.  He was kind, honest, and respectful, and they started dating soon thereafter.  After a brief engagement her intuition was confirmed when she was sealed for time and eternity to Richard Lowell Bishop on Friday, the 25th of September 1953.  Six years later they started their family with the adoption of their first child, a baby girl, and proceeded to adopt three more children over the next twelve years.

In 1961, after living in several different areas they finally settled in a flourishing community due north of Salt Lake named Bountiful, Utah, where they planted deep roots to stay. The family began to thrive as Richard demonstrated a robust aptitude as a successful office furniture salesman and Jenny stayed home to care for the house and the hold. Her prowess to this extent was impressive as she was very structured and organized and keeping them both neat and orderly (well, the house anyway).  She was a fabulous cook and Sunday pot roast and salmon steaks were family favorites.  Her specialty was her oven fresh, warm and delicious homemade dinner rolls known the ward over.

Our parents hired only the best babysitters as they would habitually spend time together almost every weekend evening as they would go ballroom dancing, to the movies, or to attend a evening temple session. They were both very social and hosted dinner parties in our front room or had barbecues in the backyard when the weather would allow.  Holidays were always rituals of anticipation and joy, birthdays the same. When one of us messed up and had to pay the piper, a common saying referring to our father’s impending discipline, we would run to mom (good cop) for a most likely undeserved measure of solace that would stop the tears and silence our sniffling sobs.

After two decades of relative smooth sailing the gentle tailwinds that had been so charitable started to shift, swirl, and gust in a foreboding new direction. Manifestly, they prolonged and progressed from stern to bow, headwinds now in a storm that pitched and plunged our family into full-blown crisis. Richard, husband and father of four, had been diagnosed with Huntington’s, a progressive and crippling disease, fatal with no identified cure. As his condition worsened in the mid to late 1970’s and he could no longer work, our mom was forced to seek employment to keep the family housed and fed. Fortunately, her older sister, Erma, had become the head waitress in the same banquet room their mother worked and was able to secure our mother a job in 1975.

Jenna Vee’s life has suddenly, tragically, and ironically became that of her own mother's. While her darling husband’s health continued to falter and deteriorate more swiftly she was now working full-time while simultaneously trying to maintain the household and raise their children. It was truly unbearable at times and she struggled enormously with  a crushing burden of such overwhelming responsibility. Her mother, Delora, was such a monumental blessing in her life at this time and our mom found incredible comfort in the reassurance of her presence and in the hallowed wisdom of her words.

They would spend hours talking on the phone and we would visit our grandmother often in Rose Park. While we, the children, would frolic in mindless oblivion, they would sit together on the front porch, in the cool quiet of evening, sipping punch and speaking of serious subjects in whispered tones. Our grandmother’s example and lessons of faith, prayer, the gospel, and heading the promptings of the Holy Ghost, was a welcome reprieve and helped our mother build upon the foundation of faith which had been instilled in her as a young child going forth. Her mother's influence most certainly amplified her testimony immensely and prepared her with the spiritual sustenance and mental fortitude she desperately needed to keep pushing forward day after interminable day.

The year 1981 brought devastating heartbreak to our mother as her mother, Delora Redford, suffered a stroke and passed away several months later. Her bulwark and bedrock was gone. Another strong gust of wind, another crashing wave, but she would not be defeated as she had no choice but to stay strong and remain resolute. The next year, 1982, was busier and better. Our parents witnessed the temple marriage of their oldest daughter, welcomed their first grandchild from their youngest daughter, and whisked away their oldest son to a mission overseas. The terrible inevitable occurred a year later, in 1983, when her sweetheart, her beloved husband of thirty years, reluctantly left her and found peace after years of unfathomable suffering.

This unrelenting roll call of catastrophic loss took its heavy toll but our mother was a fighter and a survivor and those that loved her and knew her well were acutely aware of her, determination, character and strength. Humble, gentle, and unassuming, she deflected any hint of misery and had the capacity to withstand the ominous with the sturdiness of Spanish stone.

Perhaps her long history of hardship gave her moments of dejection and doubt but she never let them define her.  Perhaps she harbored some bitterness within, but it was rarely on display.  Perhaps there were occasional thoughts of lament that lingered, but if so they were seldom shared and never a theme. She continued working for the Hotel Utah until her tenure was cut short at 12 years in 1987 when it was closed, remodeled, and transformed into what is now the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.  Soon there after she was able to find work at Beehive Clothing and stayed in their employ until called to serve in the Arizona Tempe Mission from 1993 to 1994.

When she returned she took a position at Kmart in Woods Cross as a Cashier. One might be tempted to think this menial but she thoroughly enjoyed her time there as it indulged her warm and effusive personality and she welcomed each customer with kind words and a friendly smile.

Her role as grandmother to 10 grandchildren was priceless and precious. She loved them all so very much and would watch them often after she retired from Kmart and began to spend more time at home in much deserved repose. She spoiled them as much as they spoiled her and their boundless innocence buoyed her spirits and brought bounce into her life.   She loved watching movies late into the night.  Her favorites were old time classics, musicals, "The Goonies", "Ghost", and "The American President". Every Sunday morning she would make sure to tune into the  televised broadcast of “Music and the Spoken Word”, with the world-renowned Tabernacle Choir. Years earlier, while working at the Hotel, she never enjoyed working when scheduled on Sundays, but found it a mixed blessing, as it were, as the dining patrons were almost always the members of the choir.

She very much enjoyed Mexican food and Baskin-Robbins – her favorite flavor being Pralines and Cream. She cherished kitty-cats, especially Frankie, her mustachioed kitty-cat calico that languished by her side like a stuffed pillow for 18 kitty-cat years.  She took up the art of sewing once again and found she was just as accomplished as ever. Her sense of humor was quite keen and notwithstanding everything she had experienced, from early childhood on, she always found a reason to laugh and did so often.

In 2010, she took up residence at The Inn on Barton Creek Assisted Living Facility in Bountiful, Utah. There she enjoyed the company of her fellow residents, staff, nurses, CNA’s, relatives, friends, church leaders, and family for almost a full decade. She stayed sharp into her mid-80s and participated in various activities for the duration of her stay until so recently when she was placed into hospice care.

Her trend downward was precipitated by a fall she suffered about a week before her passing.  Several days later, after her fall, she lapsed into a deep medically induced sleep that lasted for days and signaled that the end was woefully and distressingly near. Surrounded by her four children in reverent and reflective vigil she finally succumbed and withdrew – a beauty, an angel, and a conquering Queen.

She is welcomed and received in a resounding chorus of triumph and jubilation by friends, family and our Savior.

She is survived by two brothers: Melvin O. Redford (Flossy and Merlin LeRoy Redford (Shirley); four children, Judy B. Wood (Robert) Michael Lowell, Diane, and Richard Redford (the namesake). She has 10 grandchildren, 14 great grandchildren and 218 minutes remaining on her cell phone contract.

There will be a viewing held Sunday, September 22, 2019 at Russon Mortuary located at 295 N. Main Street Bountiful, Utah 84010 from 6:00-8:00 p.m.  A viewing will take place 9:30-10:30 a.m. prior to the Funeral services on Monday, September 23, 2019 at 11:00 a.m. also held at Russon Mortuary.  Interment will be at the Salt Lake City Cemetery at 1:30 p.m.