Evelyn Bodle Jerome Carter

Evelyn Bodle Jerome Carter

July 12, 1927 – December 21, 2024

Evelyn Bodle Jerome Carter, 97, our beloved “Gram,” died peacefully at Legacy Village of Provo on December 21, 2024. She was born in Trail, British Columbia, on July 12, 1927, the oldest child to Herbert Bodle Jerome and Thelma Gustina Johnson. 

At the age of 97, Evelyn outlived most of her generation. She was preceded in death by her husband, Wilburn “Bill” Lamonde Carter, her sister, Thelma “Dot” Catherine (Jerome) Morris, her brothers, Carl Ingvile Bodle Jerome and Robert “Bob” Herbert Jerome, her mother, Thelma Gustina (Johnson) Jerome Monaghan, her father, Herbert “Bert” Bodle Jerome, her stepfather, Francis “Frank” George Monaghan, and many other friends and relatives.

She is survived by her half-sister, Frances “Fran” Georgina (Chuck) Colpitts of Edmonton, Alberta, and her children: Ardell Lynn (Lyle) Green of Spruce Grove, Alberta, Sharon Lee (Lee) Francis of Provo, Utah, and Brian Lamonde (Jerilynn) Carter of Pleasant Grove, Utah. At the time of her passing, she had 13 grandchildren, 35 great-grandchildren, and 14 great-great-grandchildren. Her family was the greatest joy in her life.

She was a child of the great depression, and although times were undoubtedly very difficult in the rural communities of Blewett and Crescent Valley, British Columbia, she had nothing but fond memories of her childhood. Even when she taught us of her younger brother Carl’s passing when he was just eight years old, or her father’s passing when she was only 13, she remembered positive events and relationships with her grandparents and aunts and uncles, whom she loved dearly and who helped care for her mother and younger siblings. It was a delight to hear Evelyn tell the stories of Christmas with their big family, how Uncle Tom each year would go hold Santa’s reindeer. She found the Santa suit one year and insisted on mailing it back to Santa. I’m not sure how old she was when she figured the whole thing out. She never spoke of the difficulties, but those who remember her carefully folding and saving wrapping paper and ribbons will recognize her thriftiness as a by-product of the great depression. 

Evelyn completed secretarial courses at Trail Business College and became a legal secretary in Nelson. In the winter of 1945, she was attending a party with her fiancé when she met a handsome young stranger who professed that she was the girl he was going to marry. That man was Bill Carter, and sure enough, they were married within the year (Dec 1, 1946). 

Evelyn enjoyed her life as a wife and mother, raising her family in Nelson, British Columbia. She didn’t know much about the Church her husband belonged to when a couple of missionaries asked if they could visit the young family and teach them about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She said that would be fine, and that her husband might enjoy getting reacquainted with his church, but she told them, “Don’t plan on converting me.” She was of course converted, and Bill and Evelyn and their three children were sealed in the Cardston Alberta Temple on May 19, 1962. 

Most of her activities included the family: picnicking with cousins, vacations to California and Utah, lots of trips to Vancouver to see Ardell’s growing family, skiing with Sharon and Brian, square dancing, including square dance jamboree vacations and camping at Penticton, B.C. There were a few vacations Evelyn and Bill took once the children were raised, one to Hawaii where they square danced each night in the hotel lobby, and another on a Caribbean Cruise where they square danced on the upper deck of the ship. Living in the small Nelson branch provided opportunities to serve. Evelyn had many callings, including serving four times as Relief Society President. It was during this time in Nelson that her husband Bill was taken in an accident in 1980, and their time together was cut short.

After Bill’s death, Evelyn enjoyed serving as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the California Anaheim Mission (1981-1983). She traveled during the 1980s with her mother-in-law, Viva Carter, and visited all the current temples in the United States. In 1987 Viva said to her, “You should move to Utah to be near those little children,” meaning Sharon’s and Brian’s young families, which she did. She was also thrilled to be near a temple. She was an ordinance worker for almost 25 years in the Provo Utah Temple and the Mount Timpanogos Temple. She lived in her little blue house in Orem for 13 years, with Sharon and Lee in Provo for 15 years, and at Legacy Village of Provo for the last eight years. 

At Legacy, she was loved by all who knew and worked with her, and she had many friendships among the residents there. Evelyn was healthy and her long-term memory was vivid until the fall two short days before her passing. Her good health was always considered remarkable.

A graveside memorial will be held next summer in Nelson, B.C., where she will be buried with her beloved companion, Bill.

Condolences for the family may be expressed on this page.