Mary Alice Mortensen's Obituary
Mary Alice Mortensen, 87, passed away October 6, 2024, in Provo, Utah. Mary Alice was born August 31, 1937, in Compton, California, to Norman Perry Tyler, Sr. and Kathryn Lee Jane Dunham. After a divorce, her mother married Lynn Durham, who became Mary Alice’s papa who helped raise her and her 8 siblings.
After she graduated from David Starr Jordan High School, Mary Alice attended Brigham Young University. She married Harry Lawrence Mortensen in 1962 and they started raising a family in Covina, California. She worked for Covina Valley Unified School District for many years, first as a part-time pianist at an elementary school, then later as the secretary to the Administrator of the GATE (Gifted and Talented Education) Program.
Mary Alice loved writing poetry, and she included her poems in the hand-crafted birthday cards she gave to many friends and associates throughout the years. She learned how to play the piano at a young age. At age 17 she learned to play the organ, and then served as the volunteer organist in her congregation for the next 63 years. In addition to being a skilled seamstress, Mary Alice also enjoyed playing games, painting, arranging flowers, and knitting (more than 200!) Christmas stockings for friends and family. She was prolific in the FamilySearch Indexing program, and she added almost 400,000 names to the global database.
Mary Alice is survived by sons, Steven, Michael, and Paul; her daughters, Kimberly and Laura; as well as 18 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren. She is also survived by her brothers, Thomas Tyler, Keyth Durham, Sam Durham, and Michael Durham, and her sisters, Jeanne Douglas and Karyn McMillan. Mary Alice was preceded in death by her husband of 44 years, Harry Lawrence Mortensen; her parents; and brothers Norman and Lynn Tyler.
Mary Alice was an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints throughout her life, and she gave years of dedicated service in various callings. She hosted family gatherings at her home in Covina over several decades, and she always made sure that everybody who came to her house for a Christmas party received a gift. Mary Alice continued to give little gifts and birthday cards to friends, neighbors, and members of her congregation throughout her life, even to the residents of the assisted living facility in Provo where she briefly lived.
Funeral services will be held on Friday, October 11, 2024, at 6:00 p.m. at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints chapel at 1600 N 1880 W, Provo, Utah. The funeral will be broadcast at the following link, starting at 5:45 p.m.:
https://zoom.us/j/95019666125
A memorial service will also be held in California on October 26, 2024, at 10:30 a.m. at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints chapel at 656 S Grand Ave, Covina, California.
Mary Alice will be remembered for her kindness, thoughtfulness of others, dedicated church service, her love and support of family, and the great love she has for Jesus Christ and Father in Heaven. We love you, Mom, and will miss you!
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