Gertrude Lillian White

West Valley, UT – Our beloved mother, grandmother, great-grandmother & great-great-grandmother, passed away peacefully on March 14, 2023. Gertrude was born on August 5, 1934, in Pocatello, Idaho, to Edna and Fred Johnson. She was raised at her grandparent’s house until she was 6. She cherished her time with her grandma (whom she was named after) and grandpa Bingelli so much, as they showed her so much love and taught her about the gospel. After that, her mother, Edna, remarried, and Gertrude was raised by her mom and stepdad, Eldon Farrens. Growing up, Gertrude learned to work at a young age. She used to pick potatoes, clean houses and babysit (she especially loved babysitting her younger siblings) and was able to earn money to buy her first bike and a winter coat. She played the violin in the orchestra and loved singing in the glee club.

In 1951, Gertrude married her eternal sweetheart, Rayful Arden White, in which they enjoyed 68 wonderful years together. They were sealed in the Salt Lake Temple for time and all eternity on May 1, 1961. Gertrude did all the bookkeeping for Ray’s roofing company for 55 years. She loved camping, hunting (always got the biggest deer), reading and spending time with her family. Gertrude was also an amazing cook. You could always smell homemade cookies, fresh bread or some amazing treat cooking in her kitchen. She was an amazing seamstress and sewed many beautiful clothes for her children and grandchildren, as well as she made quilts for family members whenever someone got married and for the new babies. She also loved to do cross stich and made many beautiful pictures. Gertrude also loved making ceramics, which she loved to share with her family and friends, and she received many blue ribbons for them in the State Fair. In the winter, she loved to snow ski and loved to water ski in the summer. She loved the trips she made to Disneyland, Yellowstone and Lake Powell with her family.

Gertrude was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and loved and lived the gospel, setting an example for her family and those around her. She held many church callings, including Relief Society President, Primary President, and Young Women’s President, but she had a special place in her heart for teaching Sunday school, which she taught up until 2020. She lived a life of service and loved her church calling as a compassionate service leader where she arranged the meals for 18 funerals. In 1994, she served a mission with her sweetheart, Ray, in the Little Rock Arkansas Mission. Gertie and Ray also enjoyed traveling together all over the country and world.

Not only was Gertrude a wonderful and loving wife, she also was an amazing and caring mother to her children and their companions: Karen Morgan, Ken and Jan White, Brent and Julie White, and Trudi and Bryan Holt. One of her greatest joys was spending time with her 18 grandchildren, 48 great-grandchildren, 12 great-great grandchildren, and numerous nieces and nephews.

Preceded in death by her loving husband, Rayful Arden White, daughter, Raedean Helen Peterson, son, Arden Ray White, daughter-in-law, Katherine Rae White, son-in-law, Ernest D. Morgan, and her step-father Eldon A. Farrens, mother Edna Lillian Farrens, Sisters Jeannette Farrens & RoseAnn O'Brien, Brothers Alfred Farrens, Eldon Farrens and Charles Johnson.

Funeral services will be held at the Valley View Funeral Home Chapel, 4335 W., 4100 S., West Valley City, on Thursday, March 23, at 11 a.m. A viewing will be held from 9:30 a.m. - 10:45 a.m., prior to the services. Interment will be at the Valley View Memorial Park.