Kathleen Knell Smith

Kathleen Knell Smith, age 76, died peacefully and surrounded by loved ones on October 25, 2021. We saw her breathing gradually get slower and quieter until it was no more. Though we miss her and mourn her loss, her passing brought relief to her and us, as she had suffered for several years from dementia.
Kathie was born August 27, 1945, in Cedar City, Utah. Her parents, Robert Gordon Knell and Vivian Wilde, raised her and her only sibling, older brother Mike, on their dairy farm in Newcastle, Utah. Kathie told many amusing stories about life in this small town, which is about 30 miles west of Cedar City. She rode a bus each day to school in Cedar and later moved to a relative’s home there during her high school years. She attended the College of Southern Utah (now SUU) and then the University of Utah, which awarded her a bachelor’s degree in nursing, summa cum laude. She married Robert F. Smith of Cedar City on June 18, 1968, in the St. George Temple. They moved to Virginia for Robert’s military service and also lived a few years in Salinas, California, but mostly raised their four boys-Eric, Scott, Jared, and Aaron-in Bountiful, Utah. Kathie also lived for several years in Centerville, Utah, and was residing at Legacy House of Bountiful at the time of her death.
As a registered nurse, Kathie specialized in providing care to psychiatric patients. She worked most of her nursing career at the psychiatric ward at LDS Hospital; she also was employed at the Neuropsychiatric Institute at the University of Utah and at a clinic in Salt Lake City that assisted women with PMS. Kathie left the field of nursing in the late 1980s. Later in life she worked a number of years at Mrs. Cavanaugh’s in Bountiful, including as a manager; she delighted to wait on customers and to share chocolate treats with her family.
Kathie was an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and served in many callings. She loved complex discussions about theology but also had a simple faith that God and Christ loved her and cared for her. She saw their concern in small acts of kindness shown to her and in events that some people might write off as coincidences. As an outgrowth of her faith and her love for her family, Kathie did extraordinary work in the area of family history. Relying on primary sources and with attention to accuracy, she researched and gathered genealogical data for her family lines and Robert’s and submitted many names for proxy temple work. She preserved and treasured photos and artifacts from her forebears and used many of these in decorating her home. She spoke familiarly and regularly about her ancestors, wanting her sons and others to also know and love these people.
Kathie enjoyed reading, watching movies, deep conversation, decorating her home, cross-stich and crochet, nature, antique furniture, gardening, and collecting modestly priced artwork by local painters. She and Robert visited many sites in the United States when younger and took the family to Disneyland and Disney World. In her last two decades, Kathie journeyed to Denver, San Francisco, Kansas City, and Chicago to visit family and took some fun trips closer to home with friends. She kept an immaculate home and prepared hot meals virtually every night when her sons were growing up. She loved and was proud of her sons and was a huge fan of her four daughters-in-law, all of whom she found to be talented and beautiful. She enjoyed her grandchildren and opportunities to get together with family and close friends. Within the last decade, she volunteered with a humanitarian committee in the Centerville Utah South Stake, at the CenterPoint Legacy Theater in Centerville, and with Adopt-A-Native-Elder, a charity that assists Navajo Elders with food and other items.
Kathie was divorced from Robert in the 1990s, but they remained good friends. Kathie is survived by her four sons and their wives and 11 grandchildren. Kathie was predeceased by her parents and also by her beloved brother, Mike; the death of the latter at a relatively young age was a particular shock and sadness to Kathie.
Kathie encountered a lot of challenges in life, including depression, anxiety, loneliness, and the horrors of dementia. It is hard to know what it truly means to “endure well” through such adversities, but as her family we marveled at her ability to run her life, pay her bills, maintain a large home and yard, and find ways to serve and love despite such heavy, heavy burdens. We know her spirit continues to live in the world of spirits and that she is happily reunited there with family members and friends. We know we will see her again. As an expression of her faith and ours, we join with Paul in declaring, “As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.”
Funeral services will be held at 10:00 a.m., Friday, October 29, 2021 at Russon Mortuary, 295 N. Main, Bountiful, where a viewing will be held Thursday evening from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. and again Friday morning 8:45-9:45 a.m. prior to services. Services will be live streamed on Russon Brothers Mortuary Facebook page and on Kathie’s obituary page at www.russonmortuary.com.
We would love to visit with family and friends if you feel to join in any of these events. For those so inclined, we would suggest a donation to Adopt-A-Native-Elder.