Mary Lou Horsley Pickering

BOUNTIFUL, UT — Our precious wife, mother, grandmother, & sister, Mary Lou Horsley Pickering, passed away peacefully at home on February 12, 2022 after a valiant battle with cancer.

Born in Blackfoot, Idaho to John Alden and Marguerite Horsley, she grew up in the Salt Lake City and Val Verda areas of Utah. As a young adult, she was adventurous, river rafting the  Colorado River, traveling with friends, and skiing at Alta.

Mary Lou attended LDS Business College after graduating from South High School. She worked at Beneficial Life Insurance and then LDS Hospital while living in the Avenues where she made many life-long friends and where she would meet her eternal companion. Married to Cecil Allen Pickering in the Salt Lake Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on  September 22, 1971, they lived in Bountiful, Utah most of their married life where they raised their family.

Her life was spent in the service of others. She served in numerous church callings in her ward and stake and especially loved being an ordinance worker in the Bountiful Temple for 14 years.
She served so many neighbors–giving rides to appointments, running errands with them, and just being a friend. She donated blood to the Red Cross regularly and she served as a delegate and poll judge during elections and was very civic-minded.

Mary Lou enjoyed learning new things like quilting and calligraphy. She became a Certified Master Gardener. She sang in many choirs, was very artistic, and even received an Honorable Mention at the Utah State Fair for her needlepoint. She was an expert at organization, and did not tolerate procrastination. She lived by the words of Eleanor Roosevelt “Do the thing you think you cannot do.”

“She leaves behind her beloved husband of 50 years Cecil Allen Pickering; siblings John Horsley (Dawna), Scott Horsley (Claudia), Pat (Annette) Lingwall (Jon); brother-in-law William Marc Pickering and sister-in-law LeeAnn Pickering; children Michelle Griffiths (Doug), John Pickering (Deidre), Marc Pickering (Vanetta); the best grandchildren Cassidy, Dylan, Brody, Drake, Londyn; and wonderful nieces and nephews.”

As a family, we would like to thank the excellent doctors, nurses, & staff at Huntsman Cancer Institute, especially Anna Beck M.D., Jutta Deininger APRN, Vicki Rosser RN, and Tammy Henry RN for their amazing care, and for the hospice nurses Trisha Grant RN and Jamie Muirbrook RN who helped keep her comfortable in her final days. We are so grateful for and comforted by the many dear friends and neighbors who have surrounded our cherished wife and mother with their tender care and friendship.

Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m., Saturday, February 19, 2022 at the Bountiful Tabernacle, 51 South Main Street. A viewing will be held in her honor, Friday, February 18, 2022 from 6-8 pm at Russon Mortuary, 295 North Main, Bountiful, UT and Saturday morning 9:30-10:30 am at the Tabernacle prior to services. Interment-Salt Lake City Cemetery.

Services will be streamed live on Russon Mortuary & Crematory Facebook page and this obituary page.