In Loving Memory
1936•2026
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Carolyn Lloyd Eliason passed away quietly on Wednesday, November 4th with her four sons and family members by her side. Carolyn was born in Amsterdam, Ohio on February 25th,1936 to William and Eleanore Steffens Provan. Carolyn quickly learned the value of hard work living on the family farm in New Philadelphia with its assorted adventures and many chores. She told stories of farm life until the day she passed. Her time on the farm with siblings Marilyn Pocock-Embrey, Bill Provan, Juanita Carson, Harry Provan and Pete Provan were some of the most memorable times of her life and provided her with the activity level and work ethic that molded the rest of her life.
Carolyn loved her time in Ohio, but in her later teenage years she joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints and decided to move out to Provo with her friend Judy Caldwell to attend BYU. It was there that she met the father of her five boys and future husband Gary Lloyd. They married in 1958 and lived in Provo Utah where sons Jim and Jeff were born. After the family’s relocating for work to Montana, son Mike was born before they decided to return to Provo, Utah. After later moving to Salt Lake City, sons Scott and Jon were born. The home of the Lloyd boys provided a constant source of pride and work for Carolyn. She raised those five boys as she held down very meaningful full time employment for most of her life. Her efforts to wrangle, educate and raise five boys during those years were some of her most meaningful accomplishments.
With 5 boys and an active career her love of physical activity blossomed. She picked up running and like most everything else Carolyn did, attacked it with full force. She ran multiple half marathons and loved running the Deseret News and St. George marathons each year. It was during one of these races that she met her second husband Paul Moore. Paul later tragically passed away running in 1990. Her activity level changed as her knees forced her to turn her attention to bike racing. She rode all over the world on a bike and completed multiple 100 mile bike races including her favorite “The Little Red”. She raced and competed well into her 80’s and spoke of her need to get back on the bike until her last days.
One of Carolyn’s proudest achievements was her work. She started out as a secretary, while attending BYU, working for her father-in-law Wes, and later as an instructor at Utah Tech (UVU). After the family’s relocation to Salt Lake, she went to work for the Utah Department of Agriculture where she worked her way up to Deputy Director for 9 years while raising five wild boys. We all remember the days of traveling the state on her various trips and having many dinners with ranchers around the state and being able to taste the delicacies that Utah had to offer, including rocky mountain oysters. She was later offered the position of Executive Director of Administrative Services for 6 years for the State of Utah under Governors Matheson and Bangerter. This cabinet position put her in charge of all spending and budgeting matters for the entire state. She was one of the first women to hold such a position in the state, including fulfilling these appointed positions under both democratic and republican governors. She served on various board of directors during her working years and was always looking for ways to make others' lives easier. She loved her work for the state, but was later offered the position of Administrative Vice-President of Human Resource Management at BYU where she served for 9 years. She was not able to turn down the offer to work where it had all begun for her. She was able to finish her employment in the same building it had begun, so many years before. She had earned her bachelors and masters degrees in public administration at BYU and was later able to retire from her gainful employment there. It was during these days working at BYU that she met her husband John Henrie. They split time between homes in Salt Lake and St. George and traveled all over to visit grandkids that were increasing in number every year. Grandma's Halloween parties live on in the memories and love for Halloween that each of these grandkids have today. Her spider web mazes, apple bobbing, face painting and cider are things that none of them will forget.
Carolyn’s love for the gospel of Jesus Christ was a driving force and she held many positions within the church, though none of them topped the title of mother. She spent countless years earning 5 Eagle Scout awards with a little help from each of the five boys. For many years she helped other boys in the ward earn that award as well. Carolyn spent over a year in Vietnam on a mission to help teach English as a second language and advise in other capacities. She still has Vietnamese friends that she loved and was in contact with for many, many years. She learned some of the Vietnamese language and loved the culture and food until the end. In her later years, she married Ron Eliason before they were separated geographically by cognitive issues.
Carolyn was preceded in death by her parents, William and Eleanore, her siblings Marilyn, Bill and Juanita, her husbands Gary, Paul and John, her son Jeff, daughter-in-law Megan and grandkids Kenny, James and Jason. She is survived by siblings Harry and Pete as well as her sons Jim (Lorena) Lloyd, Mike (Jenny) Lloyd, Scott (Stephanie) Lloyd, Jon (Kelly) Lloyd, John (Erin) Henrie, Mary (Tom) Rees, Lil (Darrin) Goff and Cindy Henrie, as well as 25 grandchildren and 24 great grandchildren.
Carolyn will be missed as the rock in so many people's lives. The one that had all the answers, the one who knew what to do when things were tough. The hardest part of dementia is losing that ear that always knew what to do and what to say to make things better. You will be missed and we look forward to the day that we can hug and talk to you again. Special thanks to the people at Meadow Peak Memory Care and True North Hospice for the care they gave in Carolyn’s last days.
Services will be held at the Larkin Sunset Gardens Mortuary, 1950 E. Dimple Dell Road in Sandy, Thursday, November 12th. A public visitation will be held 10:00-10:45 am, with the funeral service to be held at 11:00 am. Interment will take place immediately after the services at Larkin Sunset Gardens (the adjacent cemetery).
To view Carolyn's service online via Zoom, please click the tab above that says "Watch Services" or follow this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89466071175
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What a wonderful woman who took in young girl almost 60 years ago, when she was pregnant and away from home and unmarried. She gave me a new start and blessed me with so much goodness. I’ll never forget how you saved me! Love to your family.
Carolyn taught me English when she lived in Vietnam with her husband John, and I was a young 14-year-old Vietnamese girl living in Hanoi. She was an ESL teacher, helping me and a bunch of other Vietnamese kids prepare for the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) through weekly English lessons held in her hotel room. I still fondly remember the days we crowded the sofas in her hotel living room, dissecting the English grammar together, going through the quirky multiple choice questions of the TOEFL. How patient she and John were in guiding and encouraging us through all this, how much they both rooted for our success.
We started a friendship then than became much more than a teacher-student relation. She gave me a lot of English materials to read (many Readers Digest!), had dinner with my family, introduced me to root beer and hamburgers, the foreign “luxuries” that were all new to this teenage Vietnamese girl in the 90s. Before I went on rounds and rounds of city- and nation-wide English competitions, she would call me to her hotel room to give me a special treat, gave me a good luck card, and reminded me to “just do my best as that’s all that matters”. That was some thirty years ago and I never forget that.
In the following years, she kept on writing to us after she left Vietnam - letters typed neatly and printed out, always with the “Love you bunches, Carolyn xoxo” handwritten signature. This was the pre-email days and the letters were such treasures.
Because of her lessons, many of us passed the TOEFL test with high score and that was the gateway for us to apply to colleges and universities in the US. I went on to study at a college in Maine. During my first Christmas break in the US, she and John bought tickets for me and a friend (who was also her student from Hanoi and who also went on to an US college), to go to Salt Lake City to visit them. She took us to the Nutcracker, skiing (where she broke her wrist falling down from the chair lift), the Grand Canyon, and even to her son’s dental office for a check up - all of these were first time for us. She and John also flew to Maine to attend my college graduation.
I know the years of living in Hanoi was just a footnote in her very long and accomplished life. But for a young girl from an average family in Hanoi who went on to have many worldly adventures, it is hard to overstate how much meeting Carolyn has changed the course of my life. I’m immensely grateful to her and I deeply cherish our friendship.
I’ve been living in Washington state for the past six years and we kept our line of communication with text messages and occasional calls (Carolyn being Carolyn, she would refuse a random FaceTime call until she looked impeccable with her hair and make up done!) She still called me “my brilliant, fun Vietnamese daughter”. Her last few texts, though, were just a random emoji, a voice text that had no message. I knew her memory must be fading.
I’m heartbroken to hear about Carolyn’s passing and regret that I wasn’t able to see her before she went to heaven. It is a consolation to know that in her last days she was in the loving care and company of her family. My parents and I would like to send my deepest condolences to the family. May she rest in peace and her formidable spirit live on to inspire and bless all of us.
I knew Carolyn during her time at UTC/P. She was a lovely friend and wonderful teacher. AND, she taught me how to hang wallpaper!! I have fond memories of those early days and she (and her boys) will always lead my thoughts to special times.
A few kind words can mean a great deal to the family in the days ahead.
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