Lois Marie Mitton Gaunt

Lois Marie Mitton was born August 16, 1930 near Sommers, Montana.  She was born in a ten room home built by her father on the family homestead.  She grew up one of six children born to Alexander Coyn Mitton and Bodil Lerona Piepgrass.  She was raised on the farm and attended Flathead high school in Kalispell, Montana where she studied the violin and lettered in music.  She also took violin lessons from Mr. Goddard and later was second chair in the Utah State University orchestra.  She briefly attended Montana State University and then faithfully served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Atlantic Central States mission. After her mission, she worked as a switchboard operator in Kalispell.  She then attended Utah State University where she met Fred Raymond Gaunt in a Sunday School class.  She married Fred on October 12, 1960 in the Raymond, Alberta temple.  She raised three sons one of which was adopted and became a foster mother to 13 children over the years. She loved to paint and write poetry.
Lois served faithfully in many church callings over the years and was proud of her pioneer heritage.  She was a member of the “Daughters of Utah Pioneers” organization and enjoyed working on family history. She loved horses and when she was young, she loved riding her horse.  She loved her garden whether it be vegetables or flowers and often spent time caring for and reaping from her garden.  She loved music, crocheting and baking hot rolls for her sons and their friends.  She worked in a bakery for a time and often made hotcakes for breakfast and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for after school snacks. She cared for family and friends and served countless meals for those in need.  When her husband passed, she spent a lot of years living with and caring for her mother and brother.
            Lois passed away peacefully in American Fork, Utah on May 28, 2021. She is preceded in death by her parents, brothers, John, Floyd and Arthur, her sister Lavaun and her husband, Fred. She is survived by her sister, sons and more than 10 grandchildren and at least seven great grandchildren.  Lois was a kind, sweet mother and grandmother and though she will be missed, her family is comforted by the joy they have felt from her as she was reunited with her husband and family on the other side.