Donna Heath

Sometimes when a person is missing, the whole world seems depopulated - Lamartine Our mother, Donna Lou Swensen Heath, passed away in Orem at age 92 from causes incident to age. She was born on a warm summer day in St. Anthony, Idaho, on July 22, 1922 to Ida Murri and Andrew Archie Swensen, descendants of Swiss and Norwegian immigrants. Mother was raised in a rural, agrarian culture that valued frugality, hard work, honesty and gratitude for life and all that sustained it. These traits served her well for nine decades. These important attributes she sought to instill in her own children and grandchildren. She was born into a regional recession, seven years later experienced the decade of the Great Depression, only to be followed by five years of war. She was in her mid-twenties before she lived in a world without fears of war or economic peril. She attended East High School before moving to Boise, Idaho, to finish her senior year. She met our father, Albert Randle Heath, in Boise after his return from the Southern States Mission. They were married on October 12, 1943, in the Salt Lake Temple by Elder Charles A. Callis. The next seventy years she lived in Oakland and Menlo Park, California; Seattle, Washington; Provo, Utah; Boise, Idaho; Vancouver, British Columbia; and Orem, Utah Mother is survived by 125 descendants including eight children: Harvard (Susan) of Provo, Terolee Howell of Kelowna, British Columbia, Bruce (Sue Ann) serving a mission in Seattle, Washington, Matthew (Karen) of Salt Lake City, Heidi of Sacramento, California, Christena (Robert) Hardman of Orem, Randy (Eileen) of St. George, and Shane of Orem; 37 grandchildren, and 79 great-grandchildren (with 3 more expected this year), and a brother, Dwayne Swensen of Edmunds, Washington. She was preceded in death by her husband, parents, sister, Phyllis Jackson, brothers Lynn and Rulon Swensen and a grandson Daniel Joseph Heath. Her life was filled with much joy and happiness though was occasionally tinged with trials, tribulations and some tragedy. She was ever the optimist. A person has two lives - the one they live and legacy they leave behind. That second life, her legacy, will indeed be felt for decades to come. Although today the stars have grown dimmer, and the earth has become a little more lonely, her life and legacy will help sustain us all. We wish, as a family, to offer special thanks to Alpha Omega Hospice for their compassionate care for our mother these last years - especially Claudia and Chelsea for going far beyond their normal responsibilities for the welfare of our mother. A viewing will held this Friday evening, July 17, from 6-8 at the Sundberg-Olpin Funeral Home, 495 South State Street in Orem, Utah. Following a graveside service, mother will be interred at the Plano, Idaho cemetery on Saturday, July 18.

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