Mourning the Passing of Friends: Forthcoming Funeral Service

 

"What we have once enjoyed we can never lose. 

All that we love deeply becomes a part of us.”

~ Helen Keller

Deanna G Worthen

Deanna Gay Griener Worthen, our beautiful mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister, and friend, peacefully passed away on December 29, 2023. She was born to Cecil and Vilate Taylor Griener on December 2, 1939, in Alturas, California. 

Her family moved from California to Southern Utah when she was five years old. Deanna graduated from Panguitch High School with the class of 1958 and continued her studies at the College of Southern Utah. 

She married Joseph Alan Worthen on September 19, 1959, in the temple of The Church of Latter-day Saints in St. George, Utah. Deanna and Joe were blessed with four children: Wendi Jo, Rick, Kris Ann, Russell, and a stillborn daughter Jill. 

Deanna was a devoted mother and homemaker. Outside the home, she worked at various local businesses where she enjoyed socializing with the community. 

Deanna loved sewing and making quilts, especially for her grandchildren.  She was outgoing and was fond of visiting with friends and enjoyed good times playing cards with the gang. Deanna appreciated reading a good book, collecting rocks, and tending to her flower garden. She also enjoyed traveling, but most of all she loved spending time with her family. 

Community was important to Deanna, and she volunteered at Tabitha’s Way Food Pantry and was a member of the Junior Cultus Club and Lady Fireman Auxillary. She and her husband Joe served as grand marshals for Payson City’s Onion Days. 

A member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Deanna faithfully served in many callings over the years and included working as a temple worker in the baptistry in the Provo and Payson, Utah temples. 

Deanna is survived by her husband Joseph Alan Worthen; children, Wendi Jo (Rick) Jewett, Rick (Shawnie) Worthen, Kris Ann (Darryl) Biggs, and Russell (Kodi) Worthen; fifteen grandchildren and twenty great-grandchildren; sister, Klea (Ivan) Shurtz; sister-in-law, Sharon Griener; and cousins, nieces, and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents, stillborn daughter Jill, and her brother Kenneth Griener. 

A funeral service will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, January 4, 2024, at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints located at 274 South Main Street in Payson, Utah. There will be a visitation from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Wednesday, January 3, 2024,  and Thursday from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. both at the church. Interment will be in Payson City Cemetery, 400 North 800 East, Payson, Utah. Condolences may be sent to the Family at www.walkermemorials.com.