Janet Mortensen

Janet was born in Hunt, Arizona on February 2, 1924 to John Hunt Udall and Leah Smith Udall. She married Chester (Chet) Mortensen on April 10, 1947 in the LDS Temple, Mesa, Arizona.

Janet spent her early years in Hunt and St. Johns, Arizona. The family moved to Phoenix in 1927. Janet was the sixth of eleven children. After graduating from high school in Phoenix, she worked on the staff of Arizona's newly elected congressman in Washington DC during 1943. Returning to Arizona, Janet enrolled in college at Flagstaff, Arizona. She later attended Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, where she and Chet became engaged in 1946.

After their wedding Janet and Chet moved to Stockton then settled in Modesto, California, where they bore and raised their six children. In 1979, they relocated to Salt Lake City where many of their children and grandchildren lived. Chet passed away in 1992.

Janet was a faithful member of the LDS Church. During her life she served in numerous Ward and Stake callings. In later life she served as an Indexer and Temple worker. She was an active member of the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers, serving as a captain of one of the local camps. She served as a guide at the Church Office Building and as a staff worker at the DUP Museum. She loved her Church service. She had an abiding testimony of the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ and of the eternal plan of salvation.

Janet was devoted to her husband and six children who were the center of her life. She was blessed with a nurturing spirit and possessed a sense of duty to her callings as wife and mother. Throughout her life she honored her pioneer ancestors, many of whom were called to colonize the Arizona territory in the early days of the Church.

Janet is survived by her six children: Craig (Laura) Mortensen of Highland, Utah; Amy (Michael) Liljenquist of Sandy, Utah; Denise (Stan) Lerch of Pleasanton, California; Sally (Jerry) Barrett of Taylorsville, Utah; and John and Tom Mortensen, both of Salt Lake City, Utah; and by two of her ten siblings: Jesse (Ann) Udall and Pauline (Brad) Perkinson of Mesa, Arizona. She is also survived by 18 grandchildren and 44 great-grandchildren.

Janet dearly loved her family and friends and will be missed by all who knew her.

Funeral Services will be held Wednesday, January 7, 11:00 a.m. at Wasatch Lawn Memorial Park, 3401 Highland Drive, Salt Lake City, Utah. Friends may call Tuesday evening 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. at Wasatch Lawn Memorial Park, or Wednesday morning 9:30 - 10:45 a.m. prior to the funeral service.

Interment, Wasatch Lawn Memorial Park