Farol LeNore Hassell Thackeray, 98, passed away February 3, 2016 at home in Salt Lake City, Utah. She was born September 21, 1917 to Hans J. and Elizabeth Hassell in Mammoth, Utah, the youngest of ten children.
Her youth was spent in Mammoth and Eureka, graduating from Tintic High School in 1935. She then attended Brigham Young University where she majored in English. Her writing skills led her to the school newspaper as a reporter, a job she held for four years. She received two medals for journalism, was a member of White Key, and was elected as Vice President of her senior class. After graduating in 1939 she moved to Salt Lake, hoping to find a job with a newspaper, but found they didn't hire woman reporters.
On June 5, 1941 she married Milton G. Thackeray in the Salt Lake Temple. Together they had five children. Milt was drafted soon after Pearl Harbor, spending three years in the military. After the war he continued his education, which frequently took him away for months at a time. At their tenth anniversary they calculated they had only been together for five years.
An active member of the LDS Church all her life, she served in the auxiliaries at various times. As a young mother she served in the primary presidency. Later most of her service was with the Relief Society where she served as President in two wards, and counselor to several presidents. She was also a teacher in that organization for many years.
Her love for and skill in writing stayed with her all her life. Her favorite project was to annually pick a theme and ask her children and grandchildren to write their thoughts on the subject. She would then gather and publish them for the family. She also assisted her husband, a professor in the Graduate School of Social Work at the University of Utah, to write and publish college level textbooks, which she edited. She smoothly made the transition from typewriter to computer in her later years, writing and publishing several Family History books. At age 91 she published her autobiography.
She was a member of the Daughters of Utah Pioneers, serving both as an officer and teacher. She was actively involved in her children's education, serving on the PTA. She supported her husband while he served as bishop and a member of the Stake Presidency. As a faculty member, her husband would often bring home students unannounced for dinner. She would quickly prepare a meal and serve as hostess.
Preceded in death by her husband Milt who passed away on March 24, 1996. She is survived by her five children, LeNore and Jon Bouwhuis (Bountiful), Milton and Sandra Thackeray, Joan and John Moellmer, John and Cheryl Thackeray (all of Holladay), and David and Anna Thackeray (Salt Lake City). She has 27 grandchildren, 62 great grandchildren, and 6 great great grandchildren. She is survived by two sisters-in-law, Helen Hassell (Flagstaff, Az) and Dorothy Brown (West Haven, Ut).
Funeral services will be held Tuesday, February 9, 2016 at 12:00 noon in the Salt Lake Eleventh Ward, 951 East 1st South. A viewing will be held Monday, February 8 from 6:00 to 8:00 pm at the Larkin Mortuary, 260 East South Temple, and on Tuesday from 10:45 to 11:45 at the church. Interment will be at Larkin Sunset Gardens.
