Our beautiful and loving mother and family matriarch, Shirley Salm Swenson, passed away on November 30, 2019 in her 98th year of life. For the last year and a half, she had lived in Holladay, Utah under the care of her devoted daughter, Sylvia.
She was born June 3, 1922 to Catherine Anna Hamnett and Walter Edwin Salm in Magna, Utah. She attended Cyprus High School until the family moved to Holladay, Utah into the home her father built when she was 17. She graduated from Granite High School.
She loved music and was a talented performer, singing in A ‘Capella choir, and an award winning sextet in high school. She also played the clarinet for her marching band. She was a talented pianist and played the piano throughout her life.
Shirley graduated from BYU, where she worked her way through college as the secretary to the Dean of the business school. She later worked for judges at the Utah State Capitol and was sent to Washington, D.C. to work for the Department of Commerce and the Federal Housing Administration during WWII. Her superior typing and short hand skills were taken advantage of at the University of Utah where she worked for 10 professors simultaneously. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints admired her skills and employed her in both paid and volunteer positions in the Church Office Building and the Church Administration Building. She served as a secretary for many apostles and for four presidents of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
After serving a German speaking mission to Switzerland she married Vernie Swenson in the Salt Lake Temple on November 14, 1947 and celebrated nearly 70 years together. They both sang in the Tabernacle Choir, Shirley for 32 years and Vernie for 41 years, and performed together as a harmonious duet for weddings, funerals and many other events. Later in life, they served a mission together in Boston, Massachusetts.
Besides her many years in the choir, her other church callings included Relief Society Instructor, Stake Relief Society Board, Hostess at the Beehive House and Church Office Building and the Salt Lake Temple Baptistery ‚ all adding up to untold years of service.
She loved and raised four children, belonged to study and social groups, made and kept friends wherever she went. She knew many people and loved them all; many of whom she referred to as her "dear friends."
She loved life and lived it to its fullest. Shirley and Vernie ‚ the duo are together again.
She is preceded in death by her husband, and is survived by their four children, David Vernie (Jill), Randal Walter (Eileen), Sylvia (Eric Bjorklund), Mark Alan (Charlene), 15 grandchildren, 47 great grandchildren, and her 100 year old sister, Kathryn Salm Sohm.
Funeral Services will be held Tuesday, December 10, 2019 at Larkin Sunset Gardens, 1950 E Dimple Dell Rd, Sandy, Utah at 11:00am with a viewing from 9:30am to 10:30am. Interment at Larkin Sunset Gardens.
In lieu of flowers please send donations to Utah Youth Village ‚ http://youthvillage.org/
