1926 ~ 2004 <! >
Rowene Kerr Humphrey, beloved wife, mother, and grandmother, died May 13, 2004 in the Alta View Hospital from acute pneumonia at the age of 77. Her family was at her bedside as she peacefully ended her long and heroic struggle with years of ill heath.
Rowene was born in Payson, UT on Aug. 5, 1926, the last of Franklin Raymond Kerr and Dora Openshaw's five children. She attended Peteetneet Grade School and Payson Junior High and lived the life of a hard working farm girl during the Great
Depression.
In September, 1941 she moved with her family to Salt Lake City where she attended South High. The next year Rowene got a part-time job at Woolworth's and worked her way up from clerk to head cashier. She graduated from high school in 1944; since most of the boys who graduated with her immediately went into the Armed Forces, she learned to adjust to a world largely without young men.
She soon put her high school type and shorthand classes to use at the Beneficial Life Company in Salt Lake where she rose through various positions of responsibility while attending classes at the University of Utah. In 1949 she moved to New York City with a good friend and lived the life of a big city girl. Although she enjoyed Manhattan's arts and culture, she returned to Salt Lake City after eighteen months to selflessly and cheerfully care for her suddenly ailing parents, something she continued to do for well over a decade.
On August 4, 1961, Rowene married the love of her life, Roswell Marlin Humphrey, in the Salt Lake Temple. After a happy honeymoon, the newlyweds moved to Provo, Utah, into a house large enough for Rowene's mother to maintain her own apartment in the basement, under the caring attention of her devoted daughter. It was there that she had and began to raise two children. The family moved to Sandy, Utah in 1976 where they have lived ever since.
Throughout her life friends and family members were delighted by Rowene's puckish wit, and they were inspired by her sense of social justice and her constant practice of self-education. New acquaintances and friends were regularly impressed by her depth of knowledge in world history and culture, and European art, literature, and music.
Rowene was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and held many positions of service in it, always demonstrating the motto of going "the extra mile."
She is survived by her husband, her daughter Wendy (Chet) Caldwell, Sandy UT; her son Daniel Humphrey, Rochester, NY; three grandchildren, Ashley, Carissa and Devin Caldwell, and two sisters-in-law Colleen Kerr and Louise Kerr. She was preceded in death by her parents, three brothers, and a sister.
Funeral Services will be held Tuesday, May 18 at noon at the Mountain View Memorial Estates chapel at 3115 E. 7800 S. where friends may also visit Monday evening from 6 to 8 p.m. as well as one hour prior to the services on Tues. Internment will be at Mountain View Memorial Park.
The family wishes to thank charitable and helpful neighbors in the Willow Creek 5th Ward, and the management and personnel of the Sandy Regional Health Care facility who skillfully and good-naturedly cared for Rowene for the last six months.