Beth (Law) Woolstenhulme

Beth Law Woolstenhulme, age 95, passed away peacefully in her sleep on April 30, 2023, at the Bear Lake Skilled Nursing Facility in Montpelier, Idaho.  She was visited by many family members and friends during the days just prior to her passing. 

Beth was born at home in Paris, Idaho, on December 18, 1927, to Ira Law and Beatrice Annie Williamson Law.  She had two brothers, Elmo Ira and Don. The family lived in a small house at the north end of Paris, Idaho, for the first seven years of Beth’s life.  Her father was a farmer.  She recalled that when he milked the cows, he sat on a three-legged stool and milked them by hand into a bucket, often squirting a stream of milk into the mouths of the kittens she had named after the old radio show “Amos and Andy.”   She helped put the milk into the hand-turned separator (they sold the cream to the nearby creamery for processing) and helped gather eggs from the chickens. 

Beth walked a mile into Paris for Primary, Sunday School, and grade school starting in first grade.  In the winter her neighbor let her, and other neighborhood children hold on to the back runners of his sleigh as he pulled them to town. Following her father’s purchase of his mother’s ranch in September 1935, the family moved to Montpelier.  She recalled being very sick with scarlet fever later that year that and worrying that Santa wouldn’t come, with her hoped-for roller skates, because he would be afraid of catching the disease himself.  She recovered, and he did bring her the skates.  After moving to Montpelier, she attended the Washington School for the next five years. She then attended the Central School for 7th and 8th grades, and then Montpelier High School, graduating in 1946.

While growing up, Beth spent a lot of time helping her father on the farm, tromping hay in the summer and helping cut wood in the canyon for the winter.  In the wintertime she helped feed the cattle with her father.  Her mother’s parents lived in Swan Creek on the west side of Bear Lake, where she and her family often visited and enjoyed picking apples and raspberries that her grandparents grew.  They also enjoyed gatherings at her Uncle Charlie and Aunt Edna Law’s house on the north end of Paris for holidays and special times.  In 1939, she and her parents went to the World’s Fair in San Francisco, where they saw the very first television displayed. 

When she was 12, Beth started picking peas in Paris and stayed with her cousins for a couple of weeks in the summer, working for 25 cents per hamper-full (a hamper was about 2 bushels). She also worked at the nearby creamery, wrapping and boxing butter.  Her first “real” job was cleaning houses for Mrs. Rowland and Mrs. Rice. When Beth was about 15, Mrs. Rice offered her employment at the Kit Kat Confectionary adjacent to the movie theater in Montpelier. Beth often commented that she enjoyed this job because she was able to meet and visit with people from all over the valley who came there after the movie.

While working at the Kit Kat, Beth met her future husband, Boyd Woolstenhulme of Oakley, Utah; at the time, he was working at the Clausen Ranch in Nounan, Idaho.  They went to a movie for their first date on November 5, 1945.  He returned to Utah shortly thereafter for the winter, but they corresponded by mail until he returned to Nounan the following spring.  On the night of her high school graduation in May of 1946, Boyd gave her an engagement ring. They married on September 1, 1946, at her parents’ home and were later sealed in the Logan Temple on March 10, 1966, along with their four children—Bonnie, Brent, Bruce, and Brad.

After they were married, they moved to Nounan, where Boyd ran the Clausen Ranch for a period of time. They then moved back to Montpelier and bought her parents’ ranch in 1950.  They lived on Adams Street until 1981, when they built a new home on Bench Road. Beth worked alongside Boyd on the ranch driving the baler and trucks, helping feed the cattle, cooking for the hay men, fencing, helping calve the cows and feeding baby calves, helping milk cows at the dairy, etc., all while raising their children.  Even though they had a busy life with Boyd working construction and running the ranch, they enjoyed getting together with friends for square dancing and other social activities.  Beth was an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints all her life and served as a teacher in many of the organizations and in the presidencies of Primary and Relief Society, as well as being a visiting teacher for many years.  Her mother was a member of the Daughters of Utah Pioneers, and Beth joined the DUP to accompany her and remained an active member herself for 58 years until her death.

Boyd and Beth took several trips over the years—to Germany in 1975 to pick up their son Bruce from his mission, to Hawaii, to Alaska on a cruise, to Michigan and points in between to visit friends, and to the northwest, once with Boyd’s parents and later with the Search and Rescue group to Oregon, Washington and California.  Later they toured the southern states, where Boyd spent time in the Army. Along with moving into their new home in 1982, they became “snowbirds,” traveling south in the winters and staying in a travel trailer on the Colorado River near Earp, California.  After ten winters in Earp, they bought a park model home and started spending winters in Washington, Utah near St. George, where they enjoyed making many new friends.  In the spring of 2006, they sold their home in Washington and returned to living in Montpelier year-round.

Beth fell and broke her hip on Valentine’s Day, 2012, necessitating multiple surgeries that year. Her husband, Boyd, had a stroke in March of 2013 and spent the next year at the nursing home.  He passed away on March 3, 2014. Beth moved to the Bear Lake Manor Assisted Living center after Boyd’s stroke, where she lived for ten years. Following a short illness, she was admitted to the hospital on April 5 of this year. She spent the last two weeks of her life in the Bear Lake Skilled Nursing Facility. 

Beth was preceded in death by her husband Boyd, her parents, her two brothers, and two great grandchildren. She is survived by their four children—Bonnie (Nolan) Phillips, Brent (Cheri) Woolstenhulme, Bruce (Anne) Woolstenhulme, and Brad (LeeAnn) Woolstenhulme, along with 18 grandchildren, 61 great grandchildren, and 11 great-great grandchildren. 

Funeral services will be held on Saturday, May 6, 2023, at the Montpelier First/Fourth Ward meeting house (485 S. 7th St) at 11:00 a.m.; a viewing will also be held that morning from 9:00 to 10:45 at the same location.  There will also be a viewing Friday evening, May 5, 6:00 – 8:00 p.m., at Schwab Matthews Mortuary (702 Clay St, Montpelier).

The family wishes to express their sincere thanks for the many years of loving service provided to their mother at the Manor. They also express their gratitude to the staff of the Skilled Nursing Facility, as well as to Dr. Jacobson and others who have cared for her over the years.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Beth (Law) Woolstenhulme, please visit our floral store.