Lois Williams
Lois Maurine Larsen Williams, born on November 3, 1932, in Twin Falls, Twin Falls, Idaho and raised near Lyman, Uinta, Wyoming, passed away peacefully at home, surrounded by her family, on August 1, 2025, in Phoenix, Maricopa, Arizona, at the age of 92. The oldest child of Ervin Erastus Larsen and Gladys Butler, Maurine and her five younger brothers (Wayne (deceased), John, Paul (deceased), Larry and Louis) were raised by their farmer/accountant father and school teacher/librarian mother in Lyman, Wyoming as faithful members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
Maurine loved people, beginning with her family and expanding continually to choice friends she played with as a young girl, people she invited to parties her mom threw. She never wanted to miss a party with friends, games and yummy food (including epic tea parties). She reached out to her immediate and extended family, school acquaintances, neighbors, fellow church members and helped everyone know she cared about them. When visiting teaching became ministering, she never knew the difference, treating everyone, whether assigned or not, as her dear friends. Even during the last year of her life she made phone calls to many who knew she was their friend. And we knew at her passing, she was glad to be part of the singing party we were throwing her as a family.
Go Granny Go! Maurine was always ready to go see something new or do something challenging. Like her mother who was always ready to go picnicking, she was ready to visit all the missions of California, travel to Wyoming to visit her parents every summer possible, organize and participate in family and school class reunions, go hiking and camping and exploring throughout the western states and Europe, travel to pick up returning missionary grandchildren, visit her kids wherever they were, and so much more. And when she couldn’t go, she watched TV programs about every part of the world and shared what she was learning. She also chose to memorize scriptures and poems and lyrics, posting quotes around the house to inspire herself and anyone who read them. A huge adventure that impressed all us chocolate lovers but didn’t convert most, especially Dwayne, was her decision to stop eating beloved chocolate, just because she could. And she did! Many of us were inspired by her example to discipline ourselves better.
She was a reader and a writer (but not a speller!). From being locked in the Evanston library lost in a book to writing her thoughts about the Book of Mormon, the Priesthood, and other important topics to reading nearly every genre invented to writing her journal and life history to listening to books this last year to watching movies and TV shows of every kind, she loved to learn. Her pre-marriage history refers often to 4H and all the skills she learned there and practiced throughout her life- sewing, cooking, farming, animal husbandry, and gardening were all skills and interests she refined throughout her life. As the oldest child, she was a hard worker on the family farm until she graduated valedictorian of her high school and went to BYU, leaving the University of Wyoming scholarship she was offered to others. Those skills and work ethic continued with her throughout her life.
Maurine loved babies! She helped raise her five brothers and wanted 12 children of her own! She settled for 10 and then had the joy of loving 33 grandchildren and many more greats. She loved other people’s children too! She created baby blankets for all the grands and without fail for nearly half a century faithfully wrote a birthday card to everyone of her posterity. Maurine met Dwayne A. Williams at BYU in the Spring of 1951 and they married September 18, 1951, in the Salt Lake City, Utah temple. David was born in 1952. They continued at BYU until Dwayne was drafted when she and David joined Dwayne in Alaska where he served in the army during the Korean conflict from 1953-54. They lived in Phoenix, Provo and Salt Lake City while having Karen (1954), Paul (1957-8, who lived less than a year due to a heart defect) and Daniel (1959). They moved permanently to Phoenix in 1959 where they had Susan (1960), Ruth (1962), Dahrl (1965), Kristen (1968), Stephen (1971) and Rebekah (1974) over the next 15 years.
Her loyal devotion to her family, faith, Church and community was unwavering and her love for Jesus and Heavenly Father, the Gospel of Jesus Christ and keeping on Their covenant path by following the Prophet and the Holy Ghost was evident throughout her life. She cherished the opportunity to minister as a Visiting Teacher and Ministering Sister with love and perseverance. She also served as a teacher and as a Primary, Young Women’s, and Relief Society leader for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. She and Dwayne served a mission for the Church in Spain from 1998-2000, as temple workers in the Mesa temple, and as family history consultants for many years. She spent hundreds of hours doing family history research on her and others’ ancestors and collaborating with Dwayne and others to write several volumes of stories about her and her ancestors’ lives.
She found joy in music and dance, frequently performing duets with Dwayne and participating in choirs (they met in a BYU choir practice). A favorite family activity was harmonizing to “old favorites” while she accompanied on the piano and shared music she had discovered. She had grown up singing in the barn with her Dad while milking and with her piano playing mother and violin playing father and later with her brothers and then with her own family. She sang in many choirs, participated in state school solo and choir competitions, and earned a music scholarship. She received a Tabernacle Choir invitation, and sang with a local choir until deciding to not go to sing in Carnegie Hall because her family needed her more. She sang in and led church choirs, sang for funerals and other events and taught her children and grandchildren to play the piano and love all kinds of music. One of her most cherished traditions was singing with her brothers, Dwayne and the children. She loved discovering many hymns, arrangements of sacred songs and fun popular tunes. Recently she memorized “It is Well with my Soul” and encouraged family to think about how dependent we all are on Christ’s atonement and love. Her life was a testament to her dedication to her faith in Christ, family, and community. Her legacy will continue to live on through the lives of those she touched. She will be deeply missed, but we find comfort knowing that she is reunited with her loved ones who have gone before her. Now we echo what she would often sing, “God be with you till we meet again.”
Services to celebrate Maurine’s life will be held August 30 at 10 am at 8710 N 3rd Ave, Phoenix, AZ 85021.https://zoom.us/j/94984335203?pwd=e9Zg2Af3TCEA4bvn3Zbc9zjbMxNEwb.1There will be a viewing at 9am, prior to the service.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the Humanitarian Aid Fund of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints at https://donate.churchofjesuschrist.org/contribute