Beth Kerby Kitchen's Obituary
Beth Kerby Kitchen passed away peacefully on September 6, 2024, at the age of 89, surrounded by loving family. Her sweetheart, Lynn, came back exactly four years after he passed away September 6, 2020, to take her to heaven with him.
Beth always had time for family. She loved it when grandchildren and great-grandchildren came to visit and would always say, “You’re such a blessing.” She was an easy conversationalist and much loved by her family members.
Born in Provo, Utah, on October 25, 1934, she was the middle child of 3 children born to Joe and Zillah Kerby.
Beth grew up in Provo, surrounded by family. Her grandparents on her father’s side lived just across the street from them and she had aunts and uncles who lived in the neighborhood as well. This gave Beth an example of a tight-knit family and she carried on the same kind of closeness with her own family after she got married.
Beth’s father used to always call her “Annie Rooney”- his little Irish princess. To him, she was always ‘Annie’, or ‘Annie Rooney’. Beth said, “I didn't know, while I was growing up, how special it was to have a father who had a pet name for me. I appreciate it so much now. The day I got married my father wandered around the house singing, ‘Annie doesn't live here anymore.’ What heartbreak.”
On April 30, 1953, Beth and Lynn were married in the Salt Lake Temple, and reached 67 years of marriage before Lynn’s passing.
Beth and Lynn had seven children. Their third child, Kerby, died at 14 months. She often talked of Kerby and he seemed to always be in the back of her mind. Beth and Lynn raised their children in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, with most of them serving full-time missions.
As Lynn established his early career, the family moved to California, back to Utah, to New Jersey, and back to Utah. Along the way, Lynn was always doing something – investing in real estate or starting a business. And Beth was always right there with him. As Lynn told it, Beth was really smart. He said when they were young, he had a million ideas to make money, but there was one problem – they didn’t have any money. They were broke. So he needed to save some money from their household income. Beth tightened her budget so that Lynn was able to save the money he needed to get started. In a few years, he was doing pretty well. Beth asked Lynn if he would pay back the money he got from the household budget. Lynn wasn’t happy, but he paid it. A few years later, Beth told him he had never paid interest on the household budget. Lynn wasn’t happy about that either, but he paid it. And in Lynn’s words, “Now if that’s not smart, I don’t know what is.”
Some of the properties Beth and Lynn owned provided great retreats for family get-togethers. All of their grandchildren have fond memories of spending time with their grandparents at the Heber cabins or their winter home in Logandale, Nevada. Beth and Lynn often held family parties or reunions to encourage their posterity to stay close.
Beth became a grandmother at the young age of 42. She loved her grandbabies! Lynn once wrote that she always insisted on getting hugs from all of the grandkids no matter what. He said, “We all have to listen to them scream and yell, but she gets her hugs and kisses.”
Beth loved football. She and Lynn had season tickets to the BYU games and would take their children and grandchildren to them on the weekends. In addition, Beth always made an effort to attend her grandchildren’s sporting events, plays, and recitals.
Beth loved people and was a friend to everyone. She and Lynn developed many lasting friendships. They loved card games, soda runs, and even traveled worldwide with their friends.
Lynn and Beth served a mission in Brisbane, Australia in 1993 for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They were a favorite couple among the elders and sisters. Beth also held many other church callings, including serving in the Bountiful Temple with Lynn. She had a strong testimony of the gospel and lived a faith-filled life.
Like her husband, Beth never really slowed down. She burned up the road driving between their homes in Bountiful, and Logandale, and out to their ranch in Alamo, Nevada. Beth loved each of these places and always decorated them to make them feel like home. She welcomed anyone she knew to stay in these accommodations whenever needed, which was just another example of her very generous heart.
Beth is survived by son, Daniel (Rebecca); daughter Jeanette Elizabeth; son, Gary (Kathy); daughter, Nancy Barker; son, Matthew (Suzanne); son, Mark (Leslee); 20 grandchildren, and 36 great-grandchildren; brother, Kent Kerby; and brother, Dale Kerby. She was preceded in death by her husband, Lynn Donald Kitchen; her son, Kerby; and her parents.
The funeral will be Tuesday, September 17 from 10:30 to 11:30 AM at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, located at 1476 N 300 W Bountiful, Utah 84010. The viewings will be held Monday, September 16 from 6:30 to 8 PM, and prior to the funeral from 9:30 to 10:15 AM at the same location.
Interment will be at East Lawn Memorial Cemetery located at 4800 North 650 East Provo, Utah, following the funeral.
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