Rachelle Suzan Miller Smith

Rachelle Suzan Miller Smith passed away March 20, 2024 in Salt Lake City, Utah. She was born March 29, 1977 in Nampa, Idaho, to Phillip and Susan Miller.

She graduated from Meridian High School in 1995 and went on to attend two semesters at Albertson College (now College of Idaho).

Her first job was working with autistic children at Spectrum Academy, which sparked a lifelong love of teaching. She spent the last 10 years of her life teaching young children, in multiple teaching styles, but she had a great love and passion for the Montessori method. Rachelle was a natural with children, and all of her students loved her to pieces.

Rachelle was drawn to arts and crafts from a very young age, but she really caught a bug for crochet when a friend got her to try it. She started slowly with scarves, but quickly made her way up to crocheting purses and embroidering funny phrases and swear words on them. People would frequently approach her requesting a bag, and before she knew it, she was in business. It wasn’t long before she moved on to all sorts of accessories and then found her true calling when she started creating all manner of creatures and characters. She started writing her own patterns and rarely a day went by when she wasn’t plotting her next doll. Crochet was Rachelle’s way of bringing what was going on in her imagination out into the world. Her unicorns were especially popular with people all over the globe.

She could usually be found hanging out in her “Yarn Cave”, with a cat lounged in her lap or on her shoulder, in full swing creation mode either prepping for a festival, working on an order from her Etsy shop, or making tweaks to patterns for one of the kits she was contributing to (Woodland Crochet, Teeny Tiny Animal, and most notably, Peanuts Crochet). She was well known at Craft Lake City and other local craft shows. People from around the world bought her creations through Etsy, many turning into loyal repeat customers. She also managed Craft Sabbath at the Salt Lake Library for a time. Rachelle’s incredible talent for making art was boundless, extending into needle-felting, quilling, embroidery, painting, and even food.

Food was a love language for Rachelle, and she enjoyed trying new recipes and sharing her creations with others. Cooking for her students was something she unexpectedly took on during the COVID-19 pandemic, at times making several meals a day for them. While unexpected, she loved the experience because it gave her the opportunity to be creative and simultaneously help others she cared about.

Rachelle also really loved music. Her two favorite bands were Depeche Mode and the Beatles. She saw Depeche Mode in concert many times, and had the great joy of seeing Paul McCartney live in 2010.

Rachelle touched so many lives through her work teaching young children, by sharing her incredible talent for crochet with the world, and through mentoring and encouragement of budding crocheters. She was a talented, kind, caring, and funny human who loved a quirky joke or a terrible pun. She brought the world joy, just by being herself. She will be greatly missed.

She is survived by her husband Oliver; her mother and father; and sister Alison. Other survivors include uncles and aunts, nieces and nephews, cousins, and many friends and colleagues.

There will be a Celebration of Life gathering from 6-8PM on Thursday, April 11, 2024 at Larkin Mortuary – Riverton, 3688 West 12600 South in Riverton, Utah, where some of her creations will be on display. This will be a casual event where we can celebrate Rachelle’s life however we knew her.

To watch the Celebration of Life Gathering, please click the "Watch Services" link above.