Laura Lee Grable Graf Stephenson

Mom's Life growing up…..

Her mother became a Nurse, a draftsman and then a lawyer; her father was an engineer for one of the aircraft companies…as intelligent as her parents were she was not well educated as she fooled her way through boarding school by being a very good listener. She promised her dad when she got married at an early age she would learn to read, she accomplished it by getting children’s books from the library and learned with her kids. She completed her GED much later in life.

She was considered a Tom Boy. She enjoyed fishing and hunting with her brother Jack which enjoyment continued throughout her life. She played with the twin boys who lived across the street. They were the brothers of her future husband Andy Graf. She enjoyed going on motorcycle rides with her second husband Jim. She moved and travel extensively; lived in LA, Germany, France, Las Vegas, Utah, New York, Georgia, Crete, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Visited Mexico, Hawaii, Australia, Illinois and many others – in fact when she once took inventory of all the places she had visited she boasted she had been to 48 states. She lived thru tornados, and Hurricanes. She took it all on.

She didn’t learn to drive until on the island of Crete where her sixth child was born…granted there were no military hospitals there for child bearing so she was flown to the base in Tripoli Africa.

Laura is preceded by her son Larry and husbands Andy and Jim and survived by her and Andy’s kids and Jim’s eight kids – sons Robert (Tammy) Graf, Steven (Charisse) Graf, Stephen Stephenson, Jeff (Debbie) Stephenson, Wes (Donna) Stephenson, Scott Stephenson, Monte (Katherine) Stephenson, Quinton (Brenda) Stephenson; and by daughters Carol (Gary) Reese, Donna (Wes) Stephenson, Brenda (Merik) Edgel, Marcia (Lisa) Gradinger, and Shelley Wimber; she also leaves behind 129+ grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Laura as remembered by her surviving children and their nicknames:

William Lawrence “Bill” – Laura’s First Child – who proceeded her leaving this life.

Carol Syrup – Laura’s second Child’s memories

It seems appropriate to describe mom from the viewpoint of some of the people who have sent condolences. She was delightful, one of my favorite people, I love your mother, very fun, a great sense of humor and laugh, a very loving person, a good friend, outgoing, a bubbly force for good, a pillar of strength, an inspiration in every way, endlessly kind, always carefully coiffed hair and makeup, she warmed my heart with her family history stories, and Laura was one of the most patient and genuinely good women I have ever known. Our family thanks you for all of the kind thoughts that you have expressed. As a family we agree with all of these descriptions of her goodness.

It is my privilege to call her mom. I am the firstborn of her daughters, her 'ladybug'. She was a young bride and gave birth to me in a French hospital when she was 19 1/2. Our father, Andrew Graf, was stationed in Paris with the USAF. I remember her one regret about being in Paris was that she did not learn the language. Personally, I would have been afraid that someone would try to make me eat snails. Later when dad was stationed in Greece, she did learn to speak Greek. She was determined to not have that regret again. At one time, she counted all the states she had been in and was pretty sure it was at least 48.

In the Military - Moving a lot presented problems. Oh, there were white glove inspections when you moved into off base housing; I think my siblings will recall helping with the house cleaning for some of those. However, Mom's greatest concern was that we would be close enough to a church to attend. She did not always drive or have a car to get to church and her faith was the center focus of her life. Christ was her center. If Mama said a prayer she expected and received answers. If there was not a priesthood member available to bless her children, she prayed for the blessings we needed. I am personally the recipient of miracles via Mom. I am sure that all of her children learned to pray and try to put the Savior first in our lives from Mom's great example. We were not forced to believe, but her example inspired us to want to know for ourselves if her beliefs were true.

Mama was really good with children. When we came home from school she was the listening ear if we had friend problems. She was great at helping us to be understanding of other people by helping us see their point of view. My friends always wanted to be at my house because of Mom. Mom would stop everything to sit on the floor and play a board game. She practiced judo with my older brother Larry. When Relief Society was during the day mom was the nursery person for years. She would drag refrigerator boxes to the church for the little ones to play in. In her Cedar house, she has a large bucket of toys in the front closet for the little ones.

Nothing was impossible to Mom. She was brave enough and determined enough to do whatever needed doing. When we moved to Greece dad had already been there about 6 months. Mom got on that TWA jet in California with 5 children the day after Halloween. I recall candy rolling down the aisles and Bobby throwing up. We spent the night in Athens before flying the next day on a smaller plane to Crete. She learned to sew suits for my brother’s missions, coats, and wedding dresses and made countless cakes including our wedding cakes. She made over 100 gingerbread houses each year so we could have Christmas presents. In her later years genealogy was her focus. She indexed thousands of names. I am so grateful to call her Mother and will miss her unconditional love!

Robert Robot – Laura’s third child, her Robert the Robot…

I recall, Mom taught herself to read to fulfill a promise to her dad (she got children’s books from the library to read to her children)

When stationed in Crete she would take us to the beach and teach each child individually the applicable Sunday school lesson.

Her faith was strong even before she became a member of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints – before she married her first husband she prayed that there would be something specific left on her dresser and it was. When Dating Jim she prayed to know about marrying him that if it were right on their second date he would take her for an ice cream cone – he did.

She helped lost kids, took care of and nursed several aging members of her family…

She supported Bob, Steve & Brenda on their missions by working multiple jobs – cleaning houses and offices at night, working at McDonalds and other places.

She traveled the world not only with her military husband, but also her mother and Jim.

She often encouraged and tried to get ALL the extended family together for either Christmas or Thanksgiving…usually at one of the Church Cultural Halls because the group had grown so large…

Kids loved to go play with her – she was not afraid to do anything with them – Swimming, Walking on Stilts, riding a unicycle, Diving from the roof into the swimming pool, and even as great grandma sliding down the stairs on a mattress on many occasions– only to end up hurting her backside. Mom kept in her box of toys for small kids was a pair of wooden red shoes – all the kids loved to clop around the house in them and slide and got upset when they couldn’t fit them any more – those shoes were not just grandkids that enjoyed them but us kids too…

She supported as many of the grand kids as possible in going to church education week their first year.

I will miss you mom, you will always be loved.

Donna Duckie – Laura’s forth child

Stories of mom:

Things she said often:

“Hey kitten.”

“Hey Sugar”

“What can I do for you?”

“If you can’t say anything nice... don’t say anything at all.”(she may have needed to say that to me more than some of my siblings. lol!)

“This is Gods planet, let’s not mess it up.” (Usually right before making me pick up garbage.)

“This too shall pass” or “and it came to pass.”

“They must be having a bad day.”

“Don’t judge till you’ve walked a mile in his/her shoes.”

“Take a shower, you’ll feel better.” (And smell better too)

“You are more important than things”. (After I cried because I broke her china cup.)

When we were kids living on the island of Crete, we often went camping on the beach. Mom sewed together a bunch of old drapes and made a huge tent that made it feel like an Arabian night!

When one of us was not doing well in reading Mom turned the den into a school for the summer and ALL of us had to read – We ALL had summer school –

Mom sewed almost all of our clothes. Even bathing suits, prom dresses, and suits for the boys. She sewed her wedding dress in home economics class when she was 15 and said she would ride the bus home from school and work on the hand sewing on the bus. There was a LOT of hand sewing! One year, my friend came over in the morning before seminary and mom took her measurements before we left and when we got back she had made a dress for her to wear to school that day.

Mom made all our birthday cakes, wedding cakes and she made beautiful gingerbread houses. We would load up our old red wagon and go to the grocery store and sell them out front for $5.00 each. We had to sell at least two. She got $5.00 to cover the costs and we got the other $5.00 to buy Christmas presents for our siblings at the .88 cent store. My favorite ones had stained glass windows with diamond shaped window panes and lots of icicles hanging from the roof. Dad would take them to work to give to his friends for Christmas. I remember one year ours was a two story chalet that lit up!

Mom could stretch a penny till Lincoln screamed! She made all my boutonnières, invented peanut butter and jelly crackers before Nabisco did, froze milk and bread from the day old bread store and recycled toys so we thought they were new or better than new.

When some of us needed braces, mom got a job cleaning at night at the old folk’s home and later at MacDonald’s. When I was in high school, mom went to night school and earned her G.E.D.

Mom decided to work on her bucket list after her mother passed. She went on a mission to temple square in the family/church History Center. After her mission she took a Church History tour. She was always busy either working on extractions, attending the Temple, or doing genealogy.

Mama loved everyone unconditionally, always smiled, adopted all my friends, and tried any adventure from roller blading at 60+, sliding down stairs on a mattress (apparently she did this many times with different Grandkids, zip lining, and changing the brakes on her car! She taught us by example to work hard, be the first to help and the last to leave when it’s time to clean up.

She joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints after she got married at 16. She took six children to church almost every Sunday by herself. She found ways to serve that would not upset her husband (l’m sure my dad never knew how many families he actually fed!) Once a month, she and some other ladies who’s husbands did not want them endowed, would drive to St. George to do baptisms, then come back before their husbands got home from work. She would distract dad, if needed, so we could sneak out of the house to attend youth activity night each week. We always had the choice of staying home or going to church... we always chose church with mom. Mom’s testimony and faith always amazed me. She knew God would give her anything she asked for and her Christ like heart was never denied. If I had even a thimble full of her faith it would be enough to move mountains. Someday I want to grow up to be like her.

She once promised me, after a nightmare as a child, that she wouldn’t die before me. She often would remind me of this promise. I think This is the only promise she ever broke.

Steven Stavros – Laura’s fifth and most loved Child HaHa

Laura Lee Stephenson...Mom - to sooo many Mom was not just my mom but the mom to everyone around her. Just as any mother cares about and for her children mom would care about every young person the same way. I remember going and visiting her at school where she worked in the cafeteria preparing food for hundreds of kids ...I would go give her a hug and many of the kids would come give her a hug and call her mom... When I went on my mission she worked multiple jobs to help pay for my mission... I remember when very young I started talking like the kids on the play grounds and gradually getting a pretty foul mouth...every other word it was almost like a sport to say as many bad words in a sentence as possible and I was pretty good at it....mom sat me down one day and asked me what I wanted to be in life....I gave some answer I don’t recall now....but she then asked ...how do you think they talk? The obvious answer then was not with a dirty mouth....I then changed how I talked and for the most part try very hard not to use bad language. She was my teacher, my coach, my friend my counselor and advisor, she made me and so many others try to be the best - the Very best they could - she was my mom. She will be missed by all whose lives she touched. May we all remember her and the fond memories....

Brenda Moo – Laura’s Sixth Child

Laura Lee Grable Graf Stephenson

I am the youngest of six children born to Laura & Andrew Graf. I feel extremely blessed to have had Laura as my mom. There have been many times I’ve thought I can’t even begin to live up to the example she has shown, but I have a great desire to do so. This is a woman who didn’t raise her voice, or yell at her children. (I Steven remember this a little differently – I pushed her buttons a few times - mom held it MOST of the time, but once or twice she got mad at me…maybe Brenda was just that extra special angel – baha. AND I can honestly say I did hear only once swear…guess I really pushed her which I regret more than ever) I’m sure that wasn’t always easy. Writing this is not easy for me. I guess, because it feels so final. Although her influence she has had on me will never be.

I knew I could always turn to her for the best advice. She seemed to have the right answers, and gave me encouragement, and comfort when I needed it. She was never selfish, and always giving of herself, time, talents, friendship, love “big time”, advice, honesty, and was always fun to spend time with.

She played all kinds of board and card games with us as children. She loved to go with our family fishing. We used to rent a boat on Panguitch lake and fish. Then one day she had a friend selling his boat, and she decided to buy it so we could have fun and go out fishing on it. She did this partly to help her friend that was selling the boat. I’m grateful we took her out fishing last summer to enjoy it. Our family came each summer to visit, go to plays, and just hang out with mom.

A few years ago she added on an enclosed patio that she could sit outside and visit, or read a book and enjoy a cool breeze. She didn’t always have a love of reading until she was older. She was not one to be idle, but kept herself busy.

As children we watched mom year after year making gingerbread houses to sell and help us earn Christmas money we could each spend for Christmas presents. I loved how she would add stain glass windows, and icicles – her attention to detail was amazing. I even remember her making a double decker lodge one time with lights in it. It was awesome! She was very creative, an excellent seamstress and even made her own wedding dress at the age of 15 and got married when she was 16 and it was beautiful. She even made dresses for my sisters weddings as well as outfits for each of us to wear. I even remember her taking cake decorating classes. This came in handy for her children and others for wedding, or birthday cakes. I remember one time she made a giant teddy bear that my brother and I were taking to a friend’s house. It was so big we couldn’t get it in the car and so we slowly drove there with it on the roof holding it with our hands out the window. Luckily it wasn’t very far. We even took a toll painting class together

.

She served others because she loved people, and the Lord. She loved to sing, and was usually in choir. I remember many times cranking up the radio on the way to seminary with my friends, and mom didn’t ever complain.

There were times I would come home late from a dance, and go to Macayo’s late at night. Even though I would let her know I’d be late home she’d wait up for me sleeping on the couch til I got home.

My mom, grandma, and I really liked doing jigsaw puzzles. Quite often we’d get so into it we wouldn’t want to quit and we’d stay up til 1 or 2 in the morning.

Mom was a genealogist and even became an arbitrator for genealogy extraction. I asked her how you become that, and she said they look at how accurate you are with extraction. She was very accurate, and spent many hours doing extraction work and loved doing it. She loved genealogy and even had a great desire to serve a mission. I’m not surprised she ended up serving on temple square in Salt Lake. It was a genealogy mission, but she ended up answering phones and directing calls in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building greeting all who called with her cheerful voice. That was a well-chosen calling for her.

Mom was very patient, loving, and kind. Just before she married Jim Stephenson I remember mom getting ready for girls camp, and having a hard time focusing on what she needed to do to prepare. She said she was very twitter-pated, and I would say giddy about marrying Jim. She had a great time with the girls at camp, and they all loved her.

She told me about the students at the high school she worked at, and how when some of the students would swear around her those that knew her would tell them to stop swearing, because she doesn’t swear. And then they wouldn’t do so around her.

While cleaning out her home I found several cards and letters that her mom wrote her about how she felt she was such a wonderful daughter and example and she didn’t feel she was able to live up to it. She had a great admiration of her own daughter. It was also special to find a little note about how she felt about something I did that touched her heart. It was something about me helping teach a lesson at church even when I had so many other things going on in my life, but no one else volunteered. It was my response that made an impression on her. When we raise our arm to the square we are saying we will support and help one another in those church callings when needed. Funny thing is…

that is exactly what I think mom would have done. Here I am trying to follow her example.

I will always treasure my memories and experiences I had with my mother and there are many, but I do not feel I could ever express how very deeply I love her. I appreciate the example she was to me. I feel extremely blessed to call her mom, and know she has been one of the most influential people in my life. And that influence was a positive one for good. When I think of a scripture that defines my mom I think of Matthew 5: 14-16 that says … Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. My mother lived it…she loved the Lord with all her heart and those around her, you couldn’t help but feel it. She stayed true to the Lord. I know that when she met Him she was able to look Him in the face and received a loving embrace from the Lord, and he said to her well done thou good and faithful servant. As well as many other loved ones that have already passed welcoming her, and celebrating her well lived life with great gratitude and love. I ask myself how can I ever live up to that example. And my answer is by never giving up trying to follow the Savior as she did, and by living what she not only taught me verbally, but showed me by the life she led. And I say thank you mother.

I think we can ALL say thank you mother for your great example of Love, Kindness and continually giving of yourself. Rest in Peace.