ALMA GAY WINTERS WALLENTINE, 91, died at her home in Spanish Fork, UT, of natural causes on August 19, 2025. She was born on August 17, 1934, in Salt Lake City, UT, the daughter of Alma James Winters and Drucilla Rose Tueller Winters.
Gay attended primary and secondary schools in Montpelier, ID, where her family resided, graduating from Montpelier High School in 1952. She married Max Wallentine of Paris, ID, in 1953 and began her life-long career of motherhood in 1954 when the first of nine children was born. Their first home was in Logan, UT. Because her husband was a member of the armed services, they relocated many times, living in Ithaca, NY; El Paso, TX; Spokane, WA; Lafayette, IN; Provo, UT; and in 1968 finally moved to Spanish Fork, UT, where they have resided for 57 years.
Service in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was a joy to her, and she faithfully fulfilled her callings in Primary, Sunday School, Young Women, and Relief Society presidencies at both ward and stake levels, as well as teaching in those organizations, in addition to Sunday School organist and Primary and Relief Society pianists. In her golden years she served a mission with her husband Max at the Church Missionary Department in Salt Lake City. She most loved serving in the Provo Utah Temple as a temple worker for 16 years.
Many friends and family members describe Gay as the most selfless, kind, thoughtful, and loving person they have known. She wanted everyone around her to feel special, and she was always quick to make sure family, friends, neighbors, and visitors were fed and nurtured. In her last days of life, family members would have to strain to hear her frail voice asking if they had had something to eat. She was filled with gratitude for anything that was done for her. Indeed, she was an elect lady and will be truly missed and forever loved.
Besides her parents, she was preceded in death by her sister, Elizabeth Ann Winters Johnson. Surviving, in addition to her husband of 72 years, Max Van Ness Wallentine, are their children, Shari Thurlow (Darrell); Sandra Longenecker (Thomas); Patricia Bradley (Paul); Jill Swenson (Lyle); Jeffrey Wallentine (Chari); Kris Money (Brent); Scott Wallentine (Karla); Steven Wallentine (Heather); and Jared Wallentine (Kimberly). She is also survived by 45 grandchildren, 110 great-grandchildren with 2 more coming soon, and one sister, Karren Ashley of Daybreak, UT.
A celebration of life will be held on Saturday, August 23, 2025, at 11:00 a.m., in the Salem Utah Stake Center (470 East Salem Canal Road, Salem, Utah 84653).
Interment will be at the Salem City Cemetery. There will be no viewing.
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3 Condolences for Alma Gay Wallentine
Condolences(3)
Janece Hughes says
August 21, 2025 at 6:34 pmThank you Gay for being a wonderful friend to my mother and a mentor and good example to me of kindness and genuine concern for others. You taught your children well. What a wonderful posterity you have! I am grateful for your family and the positive impact they have had and continue to have in my life and my children’s lives.
It was a blessing to grow up by the Wallentine’s and watch our parents love and serve together. It was a blessing to have neighbors who watched over and took care of each other’s children.
Dear Wallentine family you are in mine and Larry’s prayers. We pray you have the comfort of peace and feel God’s love at this tender time. We love you!
Kent and Ann Burton says
August 23, 2025 at 4:01 pmIf there was ever an angel on earth, it was Gay Wallentine. What a blessing it was for us to know her. She was the kind of person everyone loved to be around. We always felt uplifted when we were in her presence and thankful to be able to partake of her spirit. She radiated love for the Savior and for everyone she knew, which made it a joy to associate with her. She was a dedicated and devoted disciple of Christ and served diligently in the church.
Her nine children have followed in her footsteps, dedicating their lives to service and lifting mankind. Gay’s influence and example will live on for generations to come. We are so grateful that our lives’ paths were able to cross with the paths of Gay Wallentine, her husband, and her wonderful posterity.
Sharon Wistisen says
August 23, 2025 at 7:03 pmDear Wallentine Family:
Thank you for sharing your angel mother with us. She came into our family’s life when we needed her the most. Max was one of Rulon’s professors at BYU. He asked Rulon to take a position as Assistant Manager of the BYU farm. When we went to Spanish Fork, we knew no one else but Max. Gay was at our door on moving day with food and a huge welcoming smile. Throughout the five years that we were their next door neighbors, Gay taught me how to garden; she took me to a local nursery and taught me the names of the plants and how to care for them. She shared many recipes with me; I still use her lasagna, frozen fruit salad, and limewater pickles to name a few. She tended our little ones when I had pneumonia and when we needed a baby-sitter, either Sandra, Sherry, or Pat were available and so good to our children. Our Bruce was in Chris’ class and they became friends.
I have always believed that the Lord puts human angels in our path when we need them most. Gay was that angel for me. The day she showed up at our doorstep, I was lonely, missing my parents and siblings in California and Rulon’s family in Idaho. I was a convert of only five years and married for only four. Gay became an example of how I wanted to live my life. She was that older sister I had always wanted as a girl. Thank you, again, for sharing her with us!