Rae Christine Madsen Kern passed away in Sandy, Utah February 26, 2017. She was born in Salt Lake City on July 10, 1924 to Elmer LeRoy and Sarah Ellsworth Madsen. She was the sixth of eight children. Rae loved spending time with her own family and her four surviving sisters. She was appreciative of our pioneer heritage. As a child, she was close to her grandmothers who spoke to her often of crossing the plains and sacrificing their all for the cause of Zion. She always mentioned how very deeply converted to the Gospel they were. Rae grew up learning the value of hard work on the family dairy farm in the Millcreek area of Salt Lake. She was sealed to Reese Shipley Kern in the Salt Lake Temple on March 19, 1945. They had seven children.
Throughout her life, Rae served in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in any calling that she received. She was gifted at working with teenagers, passionate about the Scouting program and was instrumental in implementing the Explorer program in the Teton Peaks Council. She served alongside her husband as a missionary in the Florida Tallahassee Mission and in the presidency of the Denver Colorado Temple. Rae had an enduring testimony of the Restored Gospel.
She was a talented gardener who believed that the inside of the house would take care of itself if the outside was beautiful. Rae was a perpetual student and voracious reader. She resumed her university studies at Idaho State University once her children were semi-independent and graduated with her Bachelor of Arts in 1979. She was a member of Colonial Dames and the Mayflower Society.
Personal relationships were important to Rae and she cultivated enduring friendships. Even during her decline, she was concerned about the welfare of others and developed a soft sweetness of spirit. In her semi-consciousness towards the end "Thank you ‚ thank you" were her last words.
On Christmas Eve 1928 there came into the Madsen home a radio program announcing that a well-known contralto was about to sing a lullaby to all children everywhere. She sang "All Through the Night" in English and German. Rae's father picked her up and together with her Grandmother Madsen sang the words to the song in Danish ‚ All through the night, sleep my child and peace attend thee . . . guardian angels God will send thee. . . All through the night. Our mother was watched over to the last beat of her heart and passed as the sun crested the Wasatch.
Rae is survived by Richard and Jaci (Hilton), Ralph and Connie (Plant), Marilyn and Howard Arrington, Paul and Kathryn (Gates), Robert and Cindy (Smith), Jane McGee, Holly and Michael Thomas and 36 grandchildren and 45 great grandchildren and a sister Erma Madsen Nelson.
A memorial service will be held on March 11, 2017 at 11:00 am in the Willowcreek Stake Center, 2350 E. Creek Road. Interment in the Preston, Idaho cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, donations to the Perpetual Education Fund would be greatly appreciated.
