Our beautiful, cherished mother, at age 94, transitioned from this life to the next serenely and peacefully at her home of 62 years in Sandy, Utah on 24 June 2015.
She was born 17 September 1920 in Preston, Idaho and given the name Ada LaPriel by her parents Annie Catherine Gassman and William Gibson Palmer. She was welcomed by older siblings Marlowe G., Helen (Bunker), and Edna (Richards) and later joined by younger brothers William G. and Clyde G. The family's spiritual roots, hard work, self-reliance, and devotion to one another saw them through the Great Depression and WWII. All have predeceased her.
She was pretty and popular at Preston High School, graduating in the class of '38 with friends that lasted a lifetime. Notably, she was drum majorette of the marching band, a talent she took with her to the Utah State Agricultural College and then Brigham Young University bands. Her typing skills, fastest at PHS, served her well in a secretarial career that included 20 years at Hercules, and in retirement, 11 years as a data entry church service missionary. LaPriel was a steadfast and devoted member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
In 1942, with a telegram from J. Edgar Hoover inviting her to join the FBI, she boarded the train in Ogden and traveled to war-time Washington, DC. LaPriel was a leader in the Mutual, encouraged servicemen at the USO, and did her part when the country pulled together during WWII, helping earn the sobriquet The Greatest Generation. She joined the Marriott corporation in 1943 and contributed in the early days of hotel development.
She left Washington, again with friendships for a lifetime, to return to BYU, then to accept the position of personal secretary to the Governor of the State of Idaho in Boise.
In her work, affiliations, church callings and friendships she met many powerful and prominent people. But she did not cultivate these relationships with the same ardor she used to reach out to the less fortunate, struggling and humble souls she befriended, included and loved.
At the age of 31 she accepted a proposal of marriage from Arthur E. Barraclough of Boise and they were wed on 4 June 1952 in Preston, Idaho. The following year they purchased acreage in Sandy, and she worked alongside Art to build a prosperous mink ranch in addition to their full-time jobs. Theirs was a loving and committed romance.
Art and Priel are the parents of two sons, Scot and John, who survive her. She was an awesome mother, who put her sons first in her life. As "Aunt Priel," she blessed the lives of many nieces and nephews and their children.
Widowed in 1978, by the unexpected and sudden death of her husband at 52, she found great rewards serving her family and volunteering in her church, the community, her DUP camp, and in the Jordan River Temple for 20 years.
Her legacy is one of love, gratitude, family devotion, generosity, spiritual strength and acceptance. Her lifetime of hard work and self reliance enabled her to live abundantly and charitably. LaPriel endured faithfully with much gratitude to the end. She recognized daily the thanksgiving of riches bestowed upon her: good health, loving parents, protective siblings, a faithful husband, devoted sons, lifelong friends, meaningful activities and a spiritual witness of the truthfulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and his Atonement.
Funeral services will be held at 11:00 AM, with a viewing from 9:45 -10:45 AM, on Monday 29 June 2015 at the Sandy Hills Ward chapel at 1500 East 8600 South in Sandy. The family will receive visitors Sunday evening from 6:00 - 8:00 PM at the Larkin Sunset Gardens Mortuary at 1950 East 10600 South in Sandy. Interment will be at the Murray City Cemetery.
