Mary Lou Schwab

Funeral Services were held for Mary Lou Schwab on May 28, 2011 at the Cottonwood LDS Chapel. In 1999, Mary Lou suffered a brain aneurysm and has since been lovingly cared for by her family and the health care professionals at the Star Valley Care Center in Afton until her death on Tuesday May 25, 2011.

Mary Lou was born in Fairview on July 10, 1927 to Leland Lovell and Lovina Lucille Millward Shumway. Before Mary Lou was born, her older brother Vaughn died of pneumonia at the age of three. Mary Lou was the second child, followed by her sister Alene LaRue and two brothers Joseph Lovell and Edward Alonzo "Lon" Shumway of Murray, Utah.

Mary Lou had a happy childhood. She talked fondly of being with her cousins, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and friends in Fairview. They family also lived in Soda Springs, Rigby, and Spencer, Idaho. She attended eighth grade in Rigby then moved back to Star Valley her freshman year.

After finishing her junior year, she married Dell Parsons Schwab in the Logan LDS Temple on May 17, 1944. They were the parents of eight children: David Wayne (Patti), Ririe Idaho; Helen (Lynn) Merritt and Joe Dell (Barbara), Smoot; Marylin Schwab; Ludean (Nick) Henderson, Brownsville, Ore.; Lavon (Dwight) Reilly, Fullerton, Calif.; Erryn Herbert (Merrilee), Layton, Utah.

Mary Lou was not only the mother and homemaker but also helped with farm work during the years that Dell worked on Palisades Dam. Their daughter Marylin was born at this time with a congenital heart condition and died at the age of two.

After the cows sold and the older children left home, she went to work at Polaris Industries then at Powder Horn Mountaineering where she became a professional seamstress. Because of her loving generosity, she sewed numbers of coats and quilts for her own and neighborhood children. She eventually started her own home-based business called CoverCo, where she sewed and marketed custom covers for computers, business machines, and copiers.

Mary Lou was always devoted to and active in the LDS church, serving both teaching and leadership positions. She is especially remembered in Smoot for writing and directing winning roadshow and for designing and sewing unique costumes. When the Relief Society Nursery program was first implemented, Mary Lou was called as the first Star Valley Stake Nursery Leader. She devoted hours making visual aids and supplemental materials to share with ward leaders. After the death of her husband Dell in 1995, she was called to serve in the Raleigh North Carolina Mission.

After she returned, Mary Lou lived in Evanston then returned to Smoot. She also spent time in Salt Lake City with her daughter Kathleen who was undergoing cancer treatments. Her final undertaking was the completion of a printed book of family histories and photos.

Although the aneurysm left Mary Lou with short-term memory loss and confusion, she retained much of her humor and love of music and the church. She was always pleasant and grateful for the love and care she receive from her family, her dear friend Dr. Perkes, visitors and the angels at the care center.

Her parents, her husband Dell, brothers Vaughn and Lovell, sister Alene, daughter's Marylin and Kathleen and grandsons Steven Jay Schwab, Chance and K.C. Jensen preceded her in death. She is survived by six children, 28 grand children, 54 great grandchildren and two great great grandchildren.