Ruth (Greene) Dahl

( Edith) Ruth (Greene) Dahl. Age 92
Died August 1, 2021 in Spanish Fork, Utah
She was born November 9, 1928 in Ogden, Utah to Vernon L. Arbon and E. Marie Hill.
She married Gordon B. Greene on September 3, 1947
She is survived by her son Ed Greene (Mary Ann) and Terry Greene (Pam). She has 9 grand children and several great grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her parents, her two husbands Gordon Greene and Ted Dahl; and by her beautiful daughter Kathy Greene.
Mom said that her family life was a happy one. Her parents were kind and true. Her father, Vernon, worked as a trouble shooter for Mountain Bell Telephone Company and traveled throughout the mountain states doing repairs. Her mother, Marie, believed that the family should stay together so they moved frequently from job to job. The early years of mom’s life saw a lot of moving from place to place. She didn’t have the chance to make friends or stay in one school very long.
At about the age of 12 her mother decided to stop traveling and they settled down in Salt Lake City. She spent the next several years on the Avenues of Salt Lake. She made friends and attended East High School.
At the age of 17 one of Ruth’s friends set her up on a blind date with Gordon Greene who was a recently returned soldier from the Pacific theater of WW II. After dating for awhile Ruth and Gordon were married in the Salt Lake Temple on September 3, 1947. Shortly after their marriage Gordon left to serve a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Pacific Northwest Mission.
When dad returned from his mission they set up home in a small house dad had built himself in Sandy, Utah.
They welcomed their first child on October 30, 1951. Kathy was born with cerebral Palsy and other birth defects. Mom and dad struggled to meet her needs and to pay for her medical care.
When dad graduated from the University of Utah he had a teaching degree in social studies. His first job was in the city of Helper, Utah. They lived in a small apartment in the downtown area. After a year in Helper, dad found a job in Salt Lake City with the Granite School district. They moved back to Sandy. A few years later they bought their first home in the Butler area of the Salt Lake Valley.
During the next few years mom had several pregnancies end in miscarriages. After several attempts their second child was born, a Son Edward on October 24, 1959. After a couple of more miscarriages Terry was born February 20. 1963. They had now completed their family.
They were very active in the ward and helped it to grow. Mom had many callings in the ward. She was a primary teacher, young women’s leader, and secretary in Sunday school over the years. Mom was a Cub Scout den leader and loved teaching all sorts of scouting skills.
Mom worked for many years as a hostess or waitress at several local restaurants. Most of her time was spent as a waitress at the Hawaiian Restaurant in Salt Lake City. One evening as she was driving to work at the Hawaiian a teenage driver pulled out in front of her. Ruth was in a Volkswagen station wagon. She hit the car and crunched up the entire front end of the Volkswagen. She pushed on the brake so hard and the force of the impact caused her foot to go through the floorboard of the car. The paramedics had to cut away the floorboard to get her foot free. Her foot was almost completely amputated. The doctors, however, were able to reattach the foot. Mom spent the next several months with her leg in a cast. She walked with a limp for the rest of her life.
Because of her injured foot it was difficult for her to stand and walk for a long time. So she decided to get her real estate license. She spent the next several years as a realtor.
Ruth and her family loved to camp. They would take hikes up one of the local canyons. But the highlight of the summer was always a trip to Bear Lake, Utah. One summer the family was at the lake and had been there a few days. Mom decided that she wanted to fix her hair so she washed it and put it up in curlers. Then she came down to the beach. There was a tube lying unused on the beach. So she decided she would sit out in the sun and let her hair dry. She took the tube and walked out a few feet into the water. She turned around to sit on the tube. She missed the center and sat on the edge, the tube popped out from underneath her and she landed on her back in the water and got her newly washed and curled hair all wet in the lake.
On March 4, 1975 after almost 28 years of marriage her husband Gordon died suddenly of a heart attack. She now had three children to raise on her own.
In 1979 she met a man named Ted Dahl. They dated for a while then in early 1980 they eloped. Ted had seven kids of his own. Mom sold her home and moved to Fairview, Utah. Ruth spent the next couple of decades moving from place to place with Ted as they sought their dream of finding gold. They eventually ended up in Hagerman, Idaho. After many years of dealing with illness her second husband Ted died July 5, 2003
After Ted’s death she moved to Cortez, Colorado to be by her son and grandchildren. She spent her time working at church callings and making new friends. She also did volunteer work at the local hospital. She spent her time crocheting and making blankets and table coverings. She was very good at it.
Another move came in 2007 when Ed decided to move to Spanish Fork, Utah. Ruth decided to move to Spanish Fork also. She made several friends there and continued to serve. One thing she enjoyed doing was working in the foster grandparent program. She would go to the local elementary school and read to the kindergarten children. She loved being useful and helping others. Mom was always thinking of others and serving those around her. Until she died she would always ask how the grandkids were and to make sure that I got them a birthday card for them and put a dollar in the card. She knew when everyone’s birthday was: all of her children, daughters-in-law, all of her grandchildren and all of the great-grandchildren. Sometimes she was off by a couple of days but she always knew that so-and-so’s birthday was soon.
While she was still mobile she loved to attend the temple. She had a group of friends that she would attend the temple with once a week. She continued to go to the temple each week until it became too hard to walk.
The last several years of her life was spent at the Beehive house in Spanish Fork where they took great care of her. She lost her eye sight so she would love to sit and listen to audio books. She was always telling anyone who would listen about a book she had listened to and what she had learned. She loved to learn. She enjoyed listening to conference talks and the scriptures
Ruth loved being with her family. She would spend holidays and birthdays with them every chance she had.
Until just a couple of weeks before her death, she was alert and very coherent. She loved to share her knowledge and stories with anyone who would listen. She enjoyed playing bingo with the other residents at the home.
On August 1, 2021 about 7:20 am Ruth returned to her Heavenly Father where she had a wonderful reunion with her parents, daughter Kathy and Her husband Gordon. She will always be loved and missed by her family.
Interment will be at Memorial Estates in Cottonwood Heights. 3115 E. 7800 S.
A viewing will be held from 1:00 pm to 1:50 pm; Friday August 6, 2021
Graveside services will follow at 2 pm August 6, 2021 at Memorial Estates.
Service Information
Viewing August 6, 2021 at 1:00PM - 2:00PM
Memorial Mountain View Mortuary





Graveside Service
August 6, 2021 at 2:00PM - 3:00PM
Memorial Mountain View Cemetery