The Daily Herald, 06/12/09



Lera Benson Whittle passed away peacefully, of natural causes, on June 10, at age 102, while surrounded by members of her loving family. Lera spent her entire life in service to others, beginning with her service to a devoted husband and their ten children. This service expanded to include 58 grandchildren, 158 great-grandchildren, and 28 great-great-grandchildren.

She was born on a farm in Whitney, Idaho on May 4, 1907 to George Taft Benson, Jr. and Sarah Sophia Dunkley Benson, the sixth of eleven children. Lera attended Brigham Young University and was a sought-after elementary school teacher in Idaho. She met her husband, Cyril Monroe Whittle, in Preston, Idaho and they were married in the Logan L.D.S. Temple June 26, 1929. Cyril was also a teacher, and they often stated that their marriage to each other was among the greatest of all gifts that life had given them. This expression set the tone for their relationship, as well as for the harmony that existed within their family and which exists to this day. Lera is loved and esteemed by every one of her direct descendants, over a hundred of whom passed by her bed to say goodbye to her the day before her passing.

Lera was an accomplished music director, choir director, and soloist. She taught special interest classes, was a visiting teacher, a district missionary, a relief society president, and a long time temple worker. She lived with her husband and family in Cache Valley, Idaho, Imperial Valley, California, Racine, Wisconsin and Provo, Utah. After her husband's death, she served a mission to England for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with her sister Margaret.

Her greatest satisfaction in later life, she said, came from her love of family, and her love of the churchwith its numerous opportunities to serve others. Her family looks at her life as something to be celebrated. They will always be grateful for the tenderness and wisdom with which she guided them. She will be missed, but the memory of her exemplary life will always linger on.

Funeral services will be held Monday, June 15, 2009 at 10:00 a.m. in the Orem Northridge Stake Center, 1660 North 200 West, Orem, UT 84057. There will be a closed casket, but friends are invited to greet the family beginning at 9:00 a.m.