LeNila Homer

Phyllis LeNila Young Homer–10/7/1928 – 10/3/2012

Phyllis LeNila Young Homer, 83, wife, mother, grandmother, servant, mentor and friend died peacefully of natural causes on October 3, 2012.

Born in Fairview, Utah, October 7, 1928, the second child of John Floyd and Vivian Odessa Turpin Young, she spent her youth in her beloved Sanpete County helping in her father’s drug store, playing piano in a local dance band, and participating in many extra-curricular activities at Mt. Pleasant High School.

LeNila studied music for a year at college but, after urging from her father, switched to the sciences and, in 1951, became one of the first women to graduate from the University of Utah College of Pharmacy. While at the U she fell in love with a handsome young man in her chemistry class, Frederick Raymond Homer, and the two married on September 25, 1948. LeNila worked for years as a neighborhood and hospital pharmacist, including two decades beside her beloved husband at Bonneville Drug in Salt Lake City. She served as President of the Utah Pharmaceutical Association and was a member of the Utah State Board of Pharmacy. She was recognized for her many contributions, receiving the Bowl of Hygeia Award, one of the highest honors given by the American Pharmaceutical Association, and the Jensen World of Service Award.

Despite her numerous professional involvements, LeNila was first a loving wife, mother and grandmother. She is survived by Cynthia Lynn (Conan) Grames, Draper, Utah; Julia Ann (Norman) Johnson, Salt Lake City, Utah; John Raymond (Barbara) Homer, Holladay, Utah; and David Paul (Nancy) Homer, Toronto, Canada; twenty-one grandchildren and eighteen great grand-children.

LeNila loved the gospel of Jesus Christ and its power to change and improve lives. She served in many church callings including young women’s president, stake relief society president, assistant matron in the Salt Lake Temple, and two full time missions with her sweetheart in Los Angeles and Nauvoo.

Utah Symphony concerts, Fairview, the Salt Lake Opera, the temple, Ute games, the cabin, Sunday dinners, family reunions and playing the piano were all favorites for LeNila, but nothing brought her more joy than her family. While sad to see her leave, comfort is found in LeNila’s eternal reunion with her beloved Fred. Oh, how happy, those two love birds must be!

Services will be held Monday, October 8, 2012, at 11:00 a.m., at the Foothill 7th Ward chapel at 2214 Roosevelt Avenue (2200 East and 1450 South) in Salt Lake City, Utah. Friends may call on Sunday, September 7, 2012, at Russon Brothers Mortuary, 255 S. 200 E., Salt Lake City, Utah, from 6-8 p.m., or 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. before the service on Monday morning at the Church. Interment will be on Monday afternoon at the Fairview City Cemetery. Online guest book available at www.russonmortuary.com.