LaDon M. Gehmlich

LaDon Meldrum Gehmlich passed away March 20, 2021. She born March 13, 1931 in Raymond, Alberta, Canada. She was adopted and raised by and sealed to, the Thomas and Manila Meldrum family. This was a great blessing in her life and she many times commented on how her life would have been so different had it not been for the Meldrum family.

Her childhood was filled with animals, piano and dancing lessons and a horse named Ginger, promised to her by her Grandpa Lund upon his passing. She loved that horse and spent many hours riding her. It was her best friend and means of freedom. She would ride bareback to the ravines and Cooley’s way out of town, often going for a 20-mile ride. She and her horse chased gophers and enjoyed the solitude, and during the summer helped her drive the cows from town to pasture and back.

She was a very good student in school and planned on becoming a Doctor someday. When it came time to pick a college, she knew that the University of Utah had a good medical school and her parents were okay with her coming to the Salt Lake Valley where they had roots. LaDons’ father paid for school which was a great sacrifice. As she neared the end of her four years, she found herself married, expecting a child and not wanting TW to have to pay for 8 more years of medical school, so she graduated as a Medical Technologist. This served her well as she was able to work at Holy Cross Hospital and support her family while her husband finished his Masters and Doctorate. Later on, she also become the person that neighbors and family would rely on for medical help and advice.

When LaDon came to Utah for school, an acquaintance from Raymond, Deter Gehmlich, was also registering for the University. Since they were both late, they ran into each other often at registration, testing and class scheduling. They sort of hit it off and they became a couple. Church activities were their dates, a clunky old car got them around town and on LaDon’s 21st birthday, they decided to get married. The next week was Spring break, so they called home and told family they were going to be home in a couple of days to be married in the Cardston Temple. They were married for time and all eternity on March 20, 1952, stayed a couple of days with family and hopped back on the bus to get back to school. Within a month or two they realized they were expecting and that changed a lot of things.

The family would be blessed with four children, which became the main focus of LaDons’ time, talent and energy. She ran a tight household. Meals were always home cooked and healthy, chores were delegated as children came of age. Monday was wash day, Tuesday was ironing day, and Saturday was the day to get ready for Sunday. She made her bed every day and taught her children to do the same. Her home was clean and organized. During the summer we worked in the garden producing, peas, beans, corn, carrots, squash, tomatoes and beautiful gladiola stems. She canned most of it along with peaches, pears, cherries and apricots. She used skills she had learned from her mother to make pickles, sauerkraut, and fruit leathers. The gladiolas were often shared with the ward family on Sunday.

LaDon sewed beautiful clothing for herself and her family, often going to an exclusive shop, sketching a dress she liked and then coming home and reproducing it. She reupholstered couches, made drapes, created Christmas decorations and made her home a comfortable place to live. She passed on her knitting, sewing, crocheting and crafting skills to her daughters. In later years, when she and dad built a mountain cabin, she made drapes, bedspreads, Levi quilts and many decorations for the walls.

In midlife, LaDon was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. This would affect the rest of her life. She tackled the disease with fortitude. She learned to write left-handed when the right hand would not cooperate, took steps to stay healthy by exercising and walking, and did not let it affect the quality of the life she had created for her family. As her life came to a close, the MS got the best of her.

LaDon was a faithful member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She had callings that she devoted many years to. She was a Primary teacher, a Cultural Refinement teacher in the Relief Society for more than 10 years, a counselor in the YWMIA, a faithful visiting teacher, and when all the kids had left the nest, she did Extracting of names for temple work for 15 years. The greatest service she performed was with young missionaries that followed her sons home from the mission field, taking them in, housing and feeding them, and even visiting one of them in jail. She cleaned the house of a disabled sister and fought government agencies for a little old lady that had been abandoned by her family. She truly showed her family how to serve as He would, for which we will be forever grateful.

LaDon made an effort to contact her birth family. She searched out, contacted and established a relationship with all her brothers and sisters. LaDon brought that family got together and reestablished family ties. It brought her comfort in this life to know her roots and be part of the Patterson Family. She couldn’t wait to meet her mother. People who knew the family always told her she looked like her mother.

Deter and LaDon served a mission in the Chicago Mission Office for 18 months. Again, they were setting a selfless example of time, money and energy. They made great friends with those whom they served, but we missed Grandma and Grandpa.

And what a great Grandma she was. Outings at the cabin with grandkids were spent on imaginary “rock” boats, she played with them at the beach, they went on fishing trips and sledding parties on New Year’s day. Making Valentine cookies and Easter egg dying were ways she showed her grandchildren they were loved. “Zuckertuttes” a German tradition for children entering kindergarten, were excitedly welcomed by all grandkids. She never missed a birthday, baptism, wedding or a graduation from high school or college. And she often babysat grandkids while her children and spouses were out of town. Grandma and Grandpa even made it to all special occasions for out-of-town grandkids, something they will always remember.

She is survived by her loving husband, Deter, children, Jeri Lu Hurst (Bill), Douglas Gehmlich (Deloris), Sharon Heightman (Harry) and Brett Gehmlich (Lisa), 15 adoring grandchildren and 26 great grandchildren. She will be greeted by a grandson, Alexander Gehmlich, all her parents, and brothers and sisters on the other side.

Funeral services will be held March 27, 2021, 1:30 pm at the Wasatch Lawn Memorial Park, 3401 Highland Drive Millcreek, UT. There will be a viewing 1 hour before the service with a short program and interment following. Thank you to Nurse Ana, Aide Nubia and all the Intermountain Hospice team who have been there for LaDon and family through this challenging time. We love and appreciate all you have done for us.

In lieu of flowers, please make a contribution to the National MS Society P.O. Box 91891, Washington, D.C.20090-1891 or nationalmssociety.com.