Kathryn Peterson Welling, devoted wife, mother, loving grandmother, great-grandmother and friend passed away peacefully in her Kaysville, Utah home on Thanksgiving Day, November 22, 2018. She was born August 23, 1926 at the family home in Ephraim, Utah, to Peter Canute and Ethel Margaret Rawlings Peterson. She was the youngest of six children.
Kathryn was raised in Ephraim, Utah, her youth and adolescence heavily influenced by the Great Depression and World War II. She attended public schools, helped with the family farming and ranching enterprises, and worked as a wartime telephone operator. She was a lifelong student and devotee of music, literature and the arts.
In her youth she developed a love for the piano which she carried throughout her life, becoming an accomplished pianist and organist, and a beloved piano teacher to hundreds of students. She attended Snow College and then Brigham Young University where she earned a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education. She taught school in Provo, Ephraim and Davis County.
Kathryn married the love of her life, Lawrence Edward Welling, on January 17, 1949 in the Salt Lake Temple. She was able to join Lawrence in full-time missionary service for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to the Eastern States Mission, serving as his companion for a time. As a faithful member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints throughout her life, she took delight in serving others.
She taught in multiple church organizations, served for many years as ward organist, and as ward and stake Relief Society President. In later life, she and Lawrence were once again blessed to serve together as couple missionaries in Hawaii, and then to preside over the West Virginia Charleston Mission. They also served together at the Senior Missionary Training Center, and in the presidency of the Bountiful Utah Temple.
She was active in the community, serving for many years on the Kaysville Library Board and the Kaysville Art Gallery Committee, among other endeavors. She participated in and led many social groups including Bay View Club, Kaysville Literary Club and Daughters of the Utah Pioneers. She was known for her love of flowers, particularly roses, and delighted in spending time in her lovely garden.
She enjoyed playing and listening to beautiful music and had an appreciation for the performing arts, including the symphony, opera and ballet. Above all else, her pride and joy was her family. She served them tirelessly and all felt and will continue to feel her abundant love.
She is survived by her children, Stephen and Suzanne Gunnell Welling of Orem, Douglas and Martha Hatcher Welling of Fruit Heights, Elise and Keith Major of Fruit Heights, Sue Ann and Bradley Caldwell of Kaysville, and Michael and Melinda Chipman Welling of Grand Junction, Colorado and foster daughter Sharon and Ernie Ulibarri of Albuquerque, New Mexico. She cherished every one of her twenty-six grandchildren and thirty-one great-grandchildren. Kathryn Peterson Welling—dearly loved by family, community and friends.
Funeral services will be held Thursday, November 29, 2018 at 11:00 a.m. at the Kaysville 4th Ward Chapel, 875 East 200 North, Kaysville. Friends may visit with family Wednesday, November 28, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at Lindquist’s Kaysville Mortuary, 400 North Main Street, Kaysville, Utah and Thursday from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. at the chapel. Interment, Kaysville City Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, friends are invited to contribute to the Temple Construction Fund of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
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