Jeanette (Jean) Hansen Smith

Jeanette Hansen Smith (Jean) was born and grew up in Winslow, Arizona, the second daughter and fifth child of Horace and Blanche Shumway Hansen. As a child and adolescent, she made friends easily and has remained in contact with some of them ever since. While attending Brigham Young University, Jean worked her way through school by serving in the school cafeteria, eventually earning a degree in secondary education homemaking and child development. While visiting her sister Leland Ashby in California, Jean met Lynn Smith while attending church and they fell in love. After faithfully waiting a year while he served his tour of duty in Korea, they continued courting and were married in the Mesa Temple on November 24, 1954.

Bearing and raising seven children was no easy task, as she had difficult pregnancies and endured several miscarriages. Jean was a model homemaker who skillfully applied the training she had received in college. Despite tight finances, she prepared nutritious, tasty meals and made clothes for herself, her daughters and others. Her sons Curtis, Layne, Ryan and daughters Patrea Camacho, Lynnette Harlan, Miriam Arrange, ‘Ginni’ Larsen and Foster daughter Stephanie Jeffs appreciate not only her love and care, but the many practical and life skills that she passed down to them. Music was one of Jean’s greatest loves. As an accomplished pianist, she taught lessons to some of her children and played the organ in her ward for many years. Throughout her life up until her passing, classical music was often heard playing throughout the house, and she and Lynn were patrons of the Utah symphony.

At the time her younger children entered school Jean went to work as a school secretary at Draper Elementary, working there for 15 years. Over the years, people in the community came to appreciate her service and her ability to learn and spell the names of all the children. The added income not only helped support her three sons while serving missions for the LDS church, but allowed both Jean and Lynn to serve four missions during their retirement years. Being an advocate for the unfortunate and poor, Jean alongside Lynn, served humanitarian missions in Yugoslavia and Estonia. These were followed by a an institute mission in West Virginia and a temple mission in Chile. Jean continued her work as a grand humanitarian, frequently giving of her means to organizations that assisted the unfortunate. Continuing the tradition of service that guided her life, Jean served for six years as a temple worker in the temple located in Draper, Utah, where she spent most of her adult life.

Never one to back down from a challenge, Jean managed to stay connected with her brothers Scott, John, Gordon and Tracy and her older sister Leland. She successfully raised seven children and lived the gospel as best as she knew how. Perhaps her greatest challenge came during the final years of her life when she suffered from poor health, difficulty in speaking and pain which she endured much of the time. Nevertheless, she continued to be positive and despite the difficulties she faced, our beloved wife and mother is a wonderful example of what it means to endure to the end.

A viewing will be held on Thursday, September 29th from 6 pm to 8 pm at Anderson & Goff Mortuary, 11859 S. 700 E., Draper, Utah 84020. A service for family and close friends will be held on Friday, September 30th at 11 am, with a private family viewing starting at 10 am at the same location.