Verlene Allen Vawdrey

Verlene Allen Vawdrey passed away on April 1, 2024 just 3 days before her 95th birthday in South Jordan, Utah surrounded by her family. She was the oldest of five children born to Elizabeth Cottrell Snow and Benjamin Rial Allen on April 4, 1929 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Verlene’s roots were firmly placed in “Draper Soil.” All four sets of great grandparents accepted the gospel, traveled across the plains and settled in Draper, Utah.

For the first six years of her life, her father was involved in the family sheep ranching business and they lived in Cedar Valley, Utah. The family moved to Draper when Verlene was old enough to attend school. They bought her grandfather JR Allen’s home and her father became a chicken rancher. She attended Draper Park School and then Jordan High School and graduated in 1947. She began attending WSK Beauty School the fall of 1947 and graduated in October 1948 then passed the state boards and received her license.

She married Dwayne Lovell Vawdrey, a fellow Draperite, on August 19, 1949 in Draper, Utah. Their marriage was later solemnized in the Salt Lake Temple on July 21, 1960. She and Dwayne had 8 children, 2 daughters and 6 sons.

Spending time together as family was essential to Dwayne and Verlene; from camping and boating trips, monthly dinners at their home, family trips and cruises hosted by them. Mom had a special ability to connect to each of her 46 grandchildren by taking them out to eat on their birthday, DI shopping trips and fun days at Lagoon and the water park. The motivation for the time Verlene spent with her posterity, was love-not duty. She thoroughly enjoyed being with her family.

Verlene’s life personified service to her family and others. She was always willing to help in times of illness, the birth of a new baby or other needs. Throughout her life, Verlene served faithfully in many ward and stake positions in the Church. For many years she served in Records Extraction and Indexing for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, providing thousands of records for individuals. She and Dwayne also served an Inner-City Mission as they supported a local inner-city bishop in teaching self-reliance, assisting with welfare needs.

Her faith in Jesus Christ was in evidence throughout her life. She was steadfast in her faith and firm in her convictions. Recently, in the last few months of her life, Verlene would comment, “God is in Heaven and knows what he is doing and we will just let Him do it.”

We love you Mom and know you are enjoying your reunion with Dad.

Survived by children Brenda (Bob) Crowther, Alane Beck, Douglas (Marsha) Vawdrey, Glen (Laurie) Vawdrey, Paul (Lynette) Vawdrey, Scott (Lisa) Vawdrey, Gary Vawdrey and Mark (Carolyn) Vawdrey. Survived by 46 grandchildren, 115 great grandchildren, and 7 great great grandchildren. Survived by sister, Beth Bringhurst, and brother Benjamin Roger Allen.

Preceded in death by her husband Dwayne Lovell Vawdrey, son-in-law Douglas Giles Beck, and sisters Joyce Price and Donna Lloyd.

Special thanks to Legacy Assisted Living Center and Memory Care for meeting her medical needs with a large dose of love.

Funeral services will be held Monday, April 8, 2024 at 11:00 am at the Corner Canyon 9th Ward, 13006 S. Boulter St., Draper. There will be viewings at the church on Sunday, April 7 from 6:00-8:00 pm and Monday, April 8 from 10:00-10:45 am. Interment, Draper City Cemetery.

The service will be livestreamed on the Goff Mortuary Facebook Page at the following link:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Funeral-Service---Cemetery/Goff-Mortuary-116988261695382/ 
(The livestream video will appear when the service starts.)