Obituary: Beulah Sowards Bucher

Beulah Sowards Bucher 1914 ~ 2006 Our precious and beloved Mother was born in Vernal, Utah on January 7, 1914 to Wilbur and Bertha Sowards. She died Tuesday, December 5, 2006. She was 92 years young. Beulah was the sixth child of a wonderful family of nine children. When her parents sold the 'Acorn' mercantile in Vernal, they moved to Provo, Utah where she attended the B.Y. High and later Brigham Young University. In 1930, Beulah or 'Bea' as she was known, went to Washington D.C. and at 16 years of age became a member of the famed Denishawn Dance Troup of Ted Shawn and Ruth St. Denis - the forefathers of the Modern Dance Movement where a young Martha Graham was a fellow student. A radical thing to do at the time, for a young woman from Provo, Utah. She was about to tour South America when she decided to return home to continue her school. In 1934, Beulah was called on a mission to the Hawaiian Islands for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Along with her sister Myrtle, Bea headed up the Primary. The Islands were magical then, with few hotels and Mother often spoke of her many wonderful friends like Eva Parker and many, many others that fill the pages of her glorious scrapbooks. After returning home and speaking at a ward meeting, she came face to face with the love of her life, John R. Bucher, who was also attending BYU. They were married in the Salt Lake Temple on December 16, 1937. Having been together for 69 years, their love for each other was always present and felt by us all. Bea and John first moved to Sacramento, California when they were first married then they moved to Salt Lake City, where they had their four children. Mother was active in the various wards they lived in, working as a teacher in both the Sunday School and the Primary. She loved the children she taught. She loved her visiting teachers and looked forward to their visits. Always putting others before herself, she always encouraged and supported her family, promoting her children's talents and desires and was always proud of each and every one of their accomplishments. Mother always loved her garden and especially birds. There was always a canary at home that sang so beautifully. Her plants grew throughout our home like a forest. She was artistic and loved beauty and interior design. She encouraged so many of our friends in the arts. Bea loved her home and adored her neighborhood. So many beloved neighbors became some of her closest friends. Always the chocolate lover, Mom's passion for chocolate was renown in our family. As a child, her father was always warned by her teachers that she would have to stop eating so much candy in school... Mother is survived by her husband, John R. Bucher, all her children, Gerrie Ann Bucher, John Richard Bucher II, Jyll and Jonathan Sweet and Jan Bucher, five grandchildren, Richard and MaeLei Bucher, Mark Bucher, Elizabeth Bucher, Sam Sweet and Noah Carmichael, and two great-grandchildren Sorelle and Jacob with one more on the way. Her sister Jewel Bybee and brother Clifford Sowards also survive her, as does her daughter-in-law, Jean Bucher. The family would like to thank the staff of St. Joseph Villa for their wonderful support and excellent care of Mother. A memorial service will be held at Larkin Sunset Lawn Mortuary, 2350 East 1300 South, at 11:00 a.m., Saturday, December 9, 2006, where friends and family may visit from 10:30 to 11:00 a.m. Interment at the Eastlawn Memorial Hills Cemetery, Provo, Utah. Online condolences at www.larkinmortuary.com