Ruth Lavena Tennant

Ruth Lavena Brackett Tennant, born November 10, 1915 in Buhl, Idaho, died September 5, 2015 at Inn on Barton Creek in Bountiful, Utah at age 99 surrounded by family. Born to Edward Levi Brackett and Nellie May Fox, third of seven children, grew up in Buhl, moved to Salt Lake City and married Joseph “Max” Tennant in 1938. Married 55 years, they had 11 children, nine girls and two boys. Ruth joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1946 and a year later was sealed for time and all eternity in the SL Temple. Ruth loved to say, “Aren’t we glad we have the gospel?” Their children remain active LDS members. The family grew up in Mount Aire Acres, Sugar House area. Max passed away in 1993. Her ninth child, Joseph Max Jr., died in 2011.  
Ruth raised children for 42 years, handling their varied, serious health issues.  Her maxim for the children was:  Work hard, get good grades, have high moral standards, be honest in your church service.
Ruth was always noted for her boundless energy, always early to rise. She explained this by saying, “A change is as good as a rest.”  As a young wife and mother, she read her husband’s college text books and explained them to him, kept books for small businesses, was active in the public schools, made endless bread for her family and the neighbors, and loved the theatre. In the mid-60s she started a school for the developmentally disabled as her son, Joseph, had Downs Syndrome. Ruth sewed “like a fiend” and made over 250 machine-quilted quilts, all on a standard sewing machine and wrote, “Quick Quilts,” a how-to book on quilting with a standard sewing machine that sold well locally and nationally. In between raising children, she read scriptures daily, did extensive genealogy, and canned hundreds of jars of fruits and vegetables each summer while the family was growing. From 1974 to almost the end of her life, she kept a daily journal. In her later years Ruth crocheted a countless number of afghans.
Ruth and Max served two LDS missions, one to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in 1984 and then to Deseret Industries in Salt Lake City with their son, Joseph, in 1992.  She moved to Barton Creek Assisted Living, Bountiful, UT, in 2004 where she was well cared for and loved by the staff, residents, her large family.  While there she indexed genealogical records and crocheted over 4,500 small doll blankets for LDS Humanitarian Services.   
Ruth Brackett Tennant is survived by 10 children, 51 grandchildren (1 deceased), and 96 great-grandchildren (3 deceased). She lived her favorite scripture, “I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them.” I Nephi 3:7
Viewing will be held Saturday, September 19, at 12 PM with services to follow at 1:30 PM in Bountiful, UT at the LDS Bountiful East Stake Center, 650 E. 2150 S., Bountiful, UT.  Interment is at Wasatch Lawn Memorial Park, SLC, UT.
Children: Brent (Jody) – Farmington, UT; Susan (Stuart) Waldrip – Midway, UT; Sally (Charles, deceased) Clark – Layton, UT; Becky (Bob) Kristiansen – Everett, WA; Janis (Dave) Swope – Hempstead, TX; Julia (Bill) Hamilton – Bountiful, UT; Helen (Chris) Cummings – Sandy, UT; Dawn (Cam) Brown – Boise, ID; Joseph (deceased); Alice (Brett) Wight – San Diego, CA; Tresa (Steve) Chamberlain – SLC, UT.  They also were foster parents to Belita Yazzie, Maxine Lynch Tony and Judy Martinez.