Mary Jeanne Kendell Lamb
Mary was born on July 15, 1947 in Ogden, Utah and was the third, out of five, children born to Earl H and Flora Hunsaker Kendell. She passed away peacefully on Oct. 8, 2023 surrounded by her family.
Her childhood in her own words:
“We lived in Uintah, Utah, a small town south of Ogden. My pre-school years were spent playing with my brothers and sister. I especially remember enjoying Christmas holidays and how much fun they were. We would play in the snow until we were frozen.
I attended Uintah Elementary first through third grade. The school was about one mile away and we walked. At that time the school was condemned, and fourth through sixth grades I attended Birch Creek Elementary in South Ogden. We had to ride a bus and it wasn’t nearly as much fun as walking. When we walked, we were able to look at and study many interesting things along the way. During my elementary years, we were in many Christmas plays that were a highlight. Seventh grade took me to South Junior High in South Ogden.
One of the fun things we did in the summer was sleep outside in a tent on our lawn. I also loved to go camping.
Our junior high was very crowded so we started high school in ninth grade at Bonneville High School in Washington Terrace. I started a car hop job when I was 15 at a place called the Blue Onion, which is no longer there. When I was almost 17, I got a job in a dry cleaners.
After high school I didn’t know what I wanted to do for sure so I started by enrolling at Weber State College. I was offered a job for the government that December, so I decided to work instead of go to school.
I worked for the Bureau of Reclamation for one year then transferred to the DDO and worked there for nine months, then transferred to Social Security Admin where I worked for 11 years.
During my senior year in high school our family moved to Morgan, Utah which was about eight miles from where we lived in Uintah. Morgan is where I met my husband to be [Royal Lamb]. We met in church. Our first date was the day before he left in the Army. [We] were finally married in August 1970.
I have served in many church callings: Sunday School, Stake Sunday School, Primary, Stake Primary, Young Women, Relief Society and…Data Entry for the Church Family History Program.
My husband and I have been able to travel to Canada, across the states to Mexico, to Spain and Africa and…were privileged to go to Israel for two weeks and stay in the BYU Jerusalem Center.”
Mary loved children and through much trial was finally able to have two of her own, Nicole, the eldest and Erica, through adoption. She was a great mother and taught her daughters to love reading, old movies and Disneyland. She chose to be a stay at home mom until Erica was in school. However, even though she returned to work, Nicole and Erica were always her priority.
Mary also loved camping and learned how to pull a trailer so she could take her daughters camping several times a year. She loved to go camping in the Uintah’s and on Monte Cristo. She even took her cats camping a few times.
Mary loved all animals, but always had a strong attachment to cats. She usually had at least one cat and up to three during her married life. I’m sure many cats greeted her as she crossed the veil.
Mary enjoyed working in her large yard and always did her best to keep it free of weeds. She planted petunias every year and loved her peonies and her bleeding heart bush. She was also very proud of her hibiscus. She loved indoor plants as well, and often had an African violet or a Christmas cactus around.
She retired from the IRS in July of 2011 with 29 years of federal service.
After her retirement she still enjoyed camping and doing yard work. She often would go shopping on the weekend with her daughters and enjoyed spending time with them. She did all this until dementia did not allow her to do them anymore.
She spent her final months in The Peaks at Clinton where she received the very best care and was visited often by her daughters and loving husband who found it difficult to leave her side after 53 years of marriage.
Mary is survived by her husband, Royal, daughters, Nicole (Blaine) Taggart and Erica (Birch – deceased) Spencer, her brothers and sister, Janis Kendell (sister-in-law), Carl (Mary) Kendell, Cheri (Kenneth) Lang, Calvin (Bess) Kendell and Myron (Peggy) Kendell, and numerous nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her parents, her brother Colin Kendell, and numerous cats, all of whom she loved dearly.
Funeral services will be held on Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023 at 11 a.m. at the Enterprise Stake Center (2755 W. Old Hwy Rd, Morgan, UT). A viewing will be held Saturday from 10-10:45 a.m. prior to the services. Interment will take place at the Mountain Green Cemetery.
Special Thanks to CNS (Community Nursing Services) Hospice, all the staff at The Peaks at Clinton, doctors, nurses and aides along the way and all her friends, neighbors and family.
In lieu of flowers the family asks that you do one of the following:
• Spend time with a loved one (friend or family member)
• Go camping
• Donate time or money to a local animal shelter
• Donate to ALZ.org for dementia and Alzheimer’s research
