Mary Pauline Ryser Graham received an early Christmas gift on December 22, 2018, when she was called home to be with her Heavenly Father, dear husband, and family who have preceded her. The matriarch of the Graham family is dearly loved and will be greatly missed.
Pauline was born April 29, 1920, in Salt Lake City, Utah to James Joseph and Hilda Schanz Ryser. She attended Bryant Jr. High, East High, and the University of Utah. She married her childhood sweetheart, A. Lloyd Graham in 1942, and spent the WWII years stationed in New Orleans. As she was raising her five children, she became a superb homemaker, always developing her talents and eager to try new things. She loved to cook, entertain, and host parties at her home for family and friends. Pauline was a beautiful seamstress and was skilled in needlework. She loved to write and kept detailed daily journals, completed and published her life history, and maintained life-long relationships through her faithful correspondence with family and friends. She worked as an Executive Secretary with the Salt Lake Board of Education. She traveled extensively while she lived in Saudi Arabia for several years, and during that time she touched many lives through her service and loving example.
She and her husband served two missions for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in England and Australia. Pauline served as a hostess on Temple Square, served in the Salt Lake Temple, and enjoyed callings as a leader in wards and stakes here and abroad. She lived a life of strength, optimism, and courage, and her faith in the Savior sustained her throughout her life. Pauline was a fun-loving Grandma and endeared herself to her grandchildren with her thoughtful planning, vacations, and sleep-overs at her homes in Midway and St. George. Pauline and Lloyd shared an eternal partnership, putting one another first through 68 years of marriage. She was preceded in death by her husband, sisters Lucille Ryser, Berniece Stewart, Belle Strand and brother, James Ryser. Surviving her are five children, Marilyn Hoggan (Bruce), Lynnette Orme (Geoffrey), Gary Graham (Wendy Howe), Richard Graham (Cathryn Vail), and Kathleen Olson (Scott) as well as her 21 grandchildren, 64 great- grandchildren, and brothers, Charles Ryser (Ruth) and Karl Ryser.
Services to celebrate her life will be Saturday, December 29, 2018, at 12:00 noon, at the Forest View Ward, 1111 East Charlton Avenue (2818 So.), Salt Lake City. A viewing will be held Friday, December 28, from 6:30 to 8:00 pm at Larkin Sunset Lawn, 2350 East 1300 South. An additional viewing will be held prior to the services on Saturday, December 29, from 10:30 to 11:30 am at the church. Interment at Wasatch Lawn, SLC.
