Mattie Dyer

Mattie Leona Goodin Dyer, passed away in her sleep December 31, 2011. Leona was born on April 7th, 1923 in Green, KS. She is the 7th of 10 children, of the late John Raymond Goodin and Nellie Emma Slingsby. Three of which, yet survive. She taught in the Clay County Elementary School for a few years before WWII. She then went to Wichita, KS to stay with her brother John’s family, when he went into the service during WWII. She went to work in the defense industry, building Boeing B29 Bombers and other aircraft during the war years. There she met Hayden Parker Dyer and in 1946, they were married in Wichita, KS. They arrived in Phoenix, December 7, 1947 and he went to work in construction. Together, they built a house in Tempe, where they began their family in 1950. Terry Lee, Phillip Steven, John David, Kosette and Raymond Jay and numerous foster kids, all surviving. She was a loving, devoted wife, friend and companion to her husband and a dear mother to her children. Grandmother to 18 grandchildren and 18 great grandchildren. She and Hayden joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in 1953 and went to work. They served in the Jamaica Kingston Mission, Texas Houston Mission, in the Temples in Manila, Philippines; Cochabamba, Bolivia; Lima, Peru and Merida, Mexico. They also served a mission to the Family History Center in Salt Lake City, Utah in 2008. While there, she was diagnosed with ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease, which finally took her life. Donate to ALS Society in lieu of flowers. A visitation will be held at 9:00 am, with funeral service to follow at 10:00 am, on Thursday, January 5, 2012 at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, 8710 N. 3rd Ave in Phoenix with burial following at Greenwood Memory Lawn Cemetery, 2300 W. Van Buren in Phoneix.