Elaine Ward Mayfield's Obituary
Elaine Ward Mayfield
May, 6, 1934 - May 13, 2022
Elaine was born in Declo, Idaho on May 6th to Callie Belle Arrington Ward and George David Ward. She had six older siblings who took good care of their baby sister. She had lots of stories to tell when we visited the old homestead of being on the farm with lots of animals to getting water from the outside well and using the outhouse in the winter. They moved to Logan, Ut when she was 10, attending local schools and some classes at Utah State University. During this time she learned to fix things by working with her father, a skill she would use throughout her life.
While visiting her sisters in Oregon, met Craig Mayfield and fell in love. Before they would get married in the Logan Temple on September 17, 1954, he needed to join the Church and wait the year to be married in the temple. They lived in several locations (Midvale, Brigham City, Provo, Utah; Champaign, Illinois, San Jose, California and Laie & Hauula, Hawaii before returning to Provo so Craig could accept his dream job of teaching at BYU. After living in Provo for 49 years, she and Jan recently moved to St. George to enjoy the warm weather and lower altitude.
Elaine served in many Church callings in Relief Society, Primary and Young Women’s and in Stake callings. She was a Temple worker in the Logan, Hawaii and Provo Temples. She and Craig served on seven missions in South America including proselytizing missions, as President of Bogota Columbia MTC and Regional Family History Center Directors in Argentina.
She loved technology and used it to the fullest in doing Family History and staying connected with family and friends. She had one of the first IBM PC’s with floppy disk drives using WordPerfect. She loved sports and cheered for BYU and former players, always conflicted when they competed against each other. Thanksgiving meal was at 10a so we could snack during the day while watching football. Family Home Evening ended at 7:30 on Monday’s to watch the summary of games played on Sunday during half time (back when only 2 games were on TV) and the second half of MNF.
She had great faith in everything she did, always very positive in life. She never questioned the Gospel of Jesus Christ or direction from Church Leaders. She lived a very humble, simple life giving credit to others and shunning the spotlight. Many great meals were prepared for others to the dismay of her family. She was frugal with money and worked hard to provide for her family with the money they had. She was a loving mother to three children and in her later years care giver to her mother for 13 years and Craigs step mother for 10 years who moved in with them.
She loved the time spent at the family cabin in Provo Canyon near Sundance and looked forward to the holidays when extended family would all visit. Holidays were something very special with special decorations and lots of food. During their 49 years in Provo their spare rooms generally had someone staying either overnight, for a week or for a semester. The first Sunday of each month dinners were open to all relatives attending BYU and often the menu was waffles with apples and walnuts. They provided housing and meals for family who needed it and missionary support for many family and Ward members.
She is survived by her three children Dean (Cherie) Mayfield, Rene’ (Michael) Kesler and Jan Mayfield; along with 10 grandchildren, and 7 great grandchildren. She is proceed in death by her eternal companion Craig, her parents and 6 brothers and sisters and their spouses.
Zoom Link for funeral service:
https://zoom.us/j/99215467166?pwd=bTVKNVpMbFVSQk1GS2NQVi91R1g5QT09
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