Mary Elizabeth Daniels Southerland

Mom was born in Rhems, N.C .to Lionel T. and Clara Jean (Hill) Daniels. She was their only daughter and much pampered by her older brothers. She grew up in New Bern, N.C., and upon graduating from High School, enrolled in a secretarial course in Raleigh, N.C. Upon graduation, she worked at Cherry Point Naval Station while it was under construction. Even though she had vowed not to date, let alone marry a GI, she met Dad shortly after he was drafted in to the Army during WWII. She married Dad, Leonard W. Southerland of Duplin Co., N.C., on Aug 28, 1944. They had six children, J. Claire, John G. (Wanda Ericson), Margaret S. Edwards, Phyllis C. (G. Scott) Condos, Reva M. (M. Samuel) Ovard, and Joseph M. (Victoria Tanner) Southerland. She loves her grandchildren, great grand-children and great-great-great grandchild. She was predeceased by her parents, her husband Leonard, and brothers Lenwood E. and Paul J. Daniels.  She made sure that all of her children had lots of opportunities to spend with cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents, for which we are eternally grateful.  (Either that or she was trying to get rid of us!)
Mom was an accomplished musician with piano, accordion, and vocal skills, providing many hours of duets with Dad. We grew up thinking everyone sang in harmony on their family trips! While on her last hospital stay, she serenaded the staff with Blue Bayou, Eddy Arnold and other old favorites.
In the summer of 1960, we moved first to Bountiful, Utah, back to NC for 3 months in 1961, then to Holladay Utah. Dad drove a truck with two of the kids while towing a trailer that he had built to carry household goods. It was planned so that three double bed mattresses were paced on top of the furniture and boxes and we slept on these enroute.  Mom drove a station wagon four kids and a Collie while pulling a trailer with Dad’s work equipment. She cooked on a gas burner hooked up to a propane tank.  The trip took 10 days each way with no freeways or air-conditioning, cell phones or video systems! The first winter in Utah, she immediately invested in ice skates and skis, and even signed us up for skiing lessons!
Mom loved to travel and see the faraway places with strange sounding names and the move to Utah was only the beginning.  In August of 1967, Sofie Kadar, an old friend whose husband was working in American Samoa, called mom about an opening there for a Plumbing Superintendent. Dad was working on a contract in Nevada, and she had a hard time getting in touch with him, so she filled out the application, signed his name to the bottom, and sent it in, letting him know later on that she had done it. He was accepted, and less than a month later, we were in American Samoa. For the flight down, Mom wisely loaded each of us kids down with the maximum allowable bags and carry-ons, so we took our sewing machine and supplies, hair dryer, record collection, stereo, curling irons, etc., with us on the flight. We looked like a gypsy caravan when we disembarked from the Pan Am flight!
Mom quickly went “fa’a Samoa” and loved making and wearing muu muu’s and puletasis, and even travelled to Western Samoa with her friend Ailafo Ai’inu’u. They stayed in a Samoan style Fale and mom slept on mats on the floor!
While we were there, Mom’s lifetime practice of signing dad’s signature came back to haunt them. It became time to file their US Tax Returns, and for the first time in their marriage, Dad signed his name on the return instead of Mom signing it. The IRS audited it that year and contacted him thinking somebody had forged his signature and tried to file from a bogus location! Upon finishing his contract, the next move was a brief stay in Hawaii, then back to Holladay because Mom missed having 4 seasons in a year. Her travels didn’t stop, however. She travelled to Russia, Great Britain, France, Germany, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Mexico, and all over the United States.
Never one to sit idly by, she raised beautiful flowers, especially roses as well as vegetables and fruit. When she was 50, she made a flag with our family crest on it and climbed Mt. Olympus and planted the flag on top! A few years later, she went parasailing on the beach in Acapulco!
She and Dad served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Jackson, Ms. and loved the people, the area and their fellow missionaries. After returning to Utah, she accompanied Dad while he worked on the Mexico City Temple. She especially loved their time in Mexico City and got to know many of the street vendors while exploring the sights.
Her life was marked by service, both in community and church positions. She was a Cub Scout den mother and upon arriving in Utah, she was given that job just in time for the Scout-O-Rama. She entered the knot-tying contest and beat all the Scouts, Scout leaders and Silver Beavers that were there! In her later life, she made over 4,000 baby quilts that found their way to family members, babies in Kenya, Honduras, Peru, Chile, the Pacific Northwest, Las Vegas, and hospitals, refugee centers and families all over Utah. She was featured in public service tv spots on KUTV and KSL for her baby quilts.
She lived her final years with her children, each in turn. Her last two years have been in Las Vegas under the watchful care of Phyllis and Scott who diligently cared for her. Mom was most eager to be re-united with Dad and her extended families and friends, and we know they are glad to have her!
Service Information
Viewing January 17, 2020 at 7:00-9:00 PM
Memorial Holladay~Cottonwood Mortuary, 4670 South Highland Drive, Holladay,Utah 84117





Viewing January 18, 2020 at 10:00-10:45 AM
Memorial Holladay~Cottonwood Mortuary, 4670 South Highland Drive, Holladay,Utah 84117





Funeral Service
January 18, 2020 at 11:00 AM
Memorial Holladay~Cottonwood Mortuary, 4670 South Highland Drive, Holladay,Utah 84117