Elwood W Lovell October 10, 1930 - April 1, 2020

Our beloved husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather, Elwood W Lovell, age 89, passed away peacefully April 1, 2020, in his home in Spanish Fork, Utah, surrounded by his loving family.  Elwood was born October 10, 1930, in the peaceful community of Oak City, Utah, to Norma Anderson and William Owen Lovell. Elwood was the 4th of 5 boys.  Elwood was born during the great depression, so he learned from his parents, the value of money, of being honest and having integrity.  He had a wonderful childhood and a great love for his 4 brothers and parents. In high school, Elwood became a speed typist and was on the type team.  He could type 130 words a minute without any errors. He had maintained that skill throughout his life, which got him several interesting positions in the Army and his church callings.  Elwood graduated from Delta High School in 1948. Elwood learned to play the piano in his teenage years. He had a returned missionary tell him how valuable it was to know how to play the piano in the mission field.  During Elwood’s mission it proved to be true. Elwood served his mission in the Western Canadian Mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints from 1950-1952. During his mission, Elwood was asked by his mission president, to travel around the mission with another missionary to help teach members to lead music.  Elwood would play the piano and Elder Morgan would teach the members to lead music. So, knowing how to play the piano was an important skill Elwood had. Elwood was a tremendous missionary and had many wonderful experiences while serving his mission such as, about halfway through his mission, he was transferred to the mission home in Edmonton, to be the mission secretary.  Later, he was called as 2nd counselor in the mission presidency.  But, probably the most important experience he had was meeting a beautiful woman in Port Alberni, BC, Canada, who would later become his wife.  When Elwood returned from his mission, he married his beautiful wife, Alice Louise Tilley, March 10, 1954, in the Manti, Utah Temple. Soon after, he was then called to serve his country in the Korean War.  While on the transport ship to Korea, Elwood was selected to do the typing, so he got to be moved from the hold to the 2nd deck by the newspaper office.  It was more pleasant. When he arrived in Korea, Elwood was stationed in Pusan, Korea.  He was a Military Policeman in the 563rd Military Police Company.

After returning from Korea, Elwood and Alice would eventually make their home in Monticello, Utah.  They had 5 of their 6 children in Monticello. Their oldest son was born in Delta, Utah. Elwood was the manager of the First Security Bank branch in Monticello.  He was a wonderful bank manager. He was very fair and understanding with his customers and their needs in that area of Utah. People loved him. They all loved Monticello and had many, many, many wonderful friends and neighbors there.  Monticello is where Elwood learned to do needlepoint. They lived in Monticello for 29 years. In October 1984, Elwood, Alice and their youngest son (who was 16), moved to Spanish Fork, Utah, where Elwood continued to work for First Security Bank.  Elwood retired from the bank after almost 37 years. Elwood served very diligently and faithfully in every church calling he received. Some of his callings were, High Priest Group Leader, Gospel Doctrine teacher, High Counselor, Executive Secretary to the Stake President, Executive Secretary to the Regional Representative.  He was also a merit badge counselor for many different merit badges in the Scouting program. In February 1999, Elwood was ordained a Stake Patriarch in the Spanish Fork Utah East Stake. In September 1999, Elwood was given the sealing power and set apart as a sealer in the Provo Utah Temple by President James E. Faust. What a truly spiritual experience that was.  Elwood loved being a patriarch and giving patriarchal blessings to the youth and those that needed their blessing. He transcribed his own blessings up until he had his 2nd and 3rd strokes (2 days apart) in February 2012.  The 3rd stroke took away his ability to read.  He could write just fine. He just couldn’t read what he wrote.  In July 2012, he was able to give patriarchal blessings again. His oldest daughter was called to be his transcriber.  Elwood gave 1085 patriarchal blessings. He was an active patriarch for 18 years, until 2017. Elwood also loved being a temple sealer.  He loved being in the temple. Before being called as a sealer, Elwood and his wife were temple workers for quite a few years. He loved being able to seal families together and being able to seal for the living and the dead.  It was a joy to him. He was an active sealer for 13 years, until his 3rd stroke in 2012 took away his ability to read.  It was very difficult on Elwood to not be able to read.  He would wake up every morning to see if he could read. It never happened, but he made the most of it.  We as a family, felt very blessed to still have our father with us after he had a heart attack July 11, 1998, 1st stroke December 21, 2008, 2nd stroke February 13, 2012 and 3rd stroke February 15, 2012.

Elwood was very talented in many different types of handiwork.  He made the most beautiful needlepoint and petti-point items. He made a huge needlepoint picture that was 4’ x 5’ of a famous painting.  It is unbelievable. He has also made quite a few large needlepoint pictures and many medium sized needlepoint pictures. He has made 8 needlepoint chairs for his kids and he and his wife.  He has made smaller pictures, stool coverings, piano bench coverings, baby birth pictures, Christmas personalized stockings, purses, pillows and chair seats, all in needlepoint. Truly treasures for his family and friends.  He did beautiful embroidery, cross-stitch and counted cross-stitch pictures and quilts. He did beautiful latch hook rugs for all his children and others. He also had a talent for making beautiful parade floats. He made several floats, with the help of others, for First Security Bank’s entry in the Pioneer Days parades in Monticello.  They were incredible. Elwood was also a collector of old and beautiful things. In Monticello, he collected old bottles like old canning jars, ink bottles, insulators, wine bottles and every imaginable bottle you can think of. Some were worth a lot. It was a hobby he enjoyed. He sold them all before moving from Monticello. He also collected and refinished old furniture and many other old items.  He loved to collect old things. Elwood was a collector of really beautiful things as well. He collected Royal Doulton figurines, David Winter Cottages, Wedgewood, Lladro porcelain figurines, Hummel figures etc. He enjoyed his temple collection that he got from a company in Illinois where he got the #8 of every temple that the company made, along with a lot of other LDS memorabilia. He enjoyed it. He also enjoyed collecting stamps and coins.  It was always fun to look through his stamp collection books and all his coin collections. He had many hobbies.

Elwood was also a master candy maker!  He was famous for his Peanut Brittle. You were very lucky to be a recipient of his Peanut Brittle.  It was thick and such a beautiful golden color. He also made the best Fernwood Mints, Boston Creams, Divinity, Toffee and Honey Candy.  Christmas at the Lovell’s was always divine. He also made really yummy Carrot Pudding with the sauce and also goulash, a family favorite!  At Christmastime, Elwood decorated their home inside and outside. The outside decorations were spectacular! People would go out of their way to drive by the Lovell house to see their decorations.  It was amazing! In fact, a picture of their house all decorated, was put in the local newspaper one year for the most beautifully decorated home. In March 2006, Elwood and his wife took a trip to Egypt and the Holy Land for 3 weeks.  Elwood had always wanted to “walk where Jesus walked”. It was a trip of a lifetime for them. Elwood and his family enjoyed a lot of vacations to Vancouver Island, Canada, where the majority of Alice’s family lived. They also enjoyed many trips to Oak City and Delta, Utah, where Elwood’s parents and a couple brothers lived.   There were many things to do such as trips and picnics to the huge sand hills, rocks shaped like a ‘loaf, slice & biscuit”. Those rock formations were really cool to climb on, and also going on hikes in the canyon.

Elwood loved his wife and all his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren very much.  They were all very special and important to him. He loved his eternal companion and love of his life, Alice.  They spent 66 years together, having just recently celebrated their 66th wedding anniversary on March 10, 2020.  In the last several years, his sweetheart Alice, developed dementia and he was so caring and kind and doing his best to help her with everything he could.  He never wanted to leave her as they both wanted to pass away together. But when he got pneumonia, it was beyond his control that he passed before her. She is so lost and sad without him around.  But it is wonderful to know that in the next life they will be back together again, without any flaws.

Elwood is survived by his wife Alice, their 6 children, Derk Elwood Lovell (Jeralyn), Carrie Sue Sims (Chuck), Dallen Bart Lovell (Christy), Lynda Dee Barlocker (Brian), Lynnae Brown and Jens Owen Lovell (Lisa Jo), 16 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren.  He was preceded in death by his parents and his 4 brothers, Leoyd, Ferrin, Ralph and Monan.

A private family graveside service will be held at the Spanish Fork cemetery April 8, 2020.  In light of the coronavirus pandemic, there will be a celebration of Elwood’s life at a later date, when everyone who loved him can come together and celebrate his life, along with his family.

The family would love to have those of you who have had a special memory or experience with Elwood, to please send that memory or experience to: csims1952@gmail.com.  We will put those special memories and experiences in a special book to be displayed at the celebration of Elwood’s life.  We look forward to this time to all be together.