Clella Smith

Clella Ruth D. Smith

LAYTON – Clella Ruth Drollinger Smith, 87, passed away October 21, 2016 in Layton.  Ruth was born February 14, 1929 in Roosevelt, Duchesne, Utah in the Uintah Basin the daughter of Franklin Sylvanus Drollinger and Hazel Lucetta Hardman.  She married Darrell Wilmot Smith on December 19, 1947 in the Logan LDS Temple.

She attended elementary schools in Roosevelt and Myton, Utah.  Her family moved to Logan, Utah where she attended 7th grade.  She attended 8th grade in Portage, Box Elder, Utah, when she lived with her Aunt Minnie Ashton and Grandmother Hardman.  She went to 9th grade at Lewiston Jr. High and graduated from North Cache High in Richmond, Cache, Utah, in 1947 as an honors student.

Family and friends meant the world to Ruth.  She was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  She enjoyed serving the Lord in many capacities:  Primary, MIA, Relief Society and 25 years in scouting.  She enjoyed the comradery of sharing hours of labor on the Layton Utah Stake Center when it was being built, also working on welfare and canning assignments.  She started doing genealogy with her mother at age 12.  She and her husband served in the LDS Name Extraction Program starting in 1982 and continued through their LDS Missions in Family History in both the Texas Houston Mission, 1991-93, and the Georgia Atlanta Mission, 1995-96.  They continued extracting when they moved to Perry, Utah, 1997-2004, until Ruth’s eyes gave out in 2002.  They moved back to Layton, Utah October 2004.

Surviving are her six children, Linda (Rulon) Terry, Layton, UT; Kent (Susan) Smith, Syracuse, UT; Debra Shields and Kathi Fletcher, both of Layton, UT; April (Thomas) Harrison, Castle Dale, UT; and Julie (Brent) Justensen, Syracuse, UT; sister LaVerne Rogers, Carlsbad, NM; three sisters-in-law, Jill Drollinger, Richmond, UT; Jeanne Drollinger, Apache Junction, AZ; and Merleen Orvin, Caldwell, ID; 33 grandchildren, 75 great-grandchildren, and one great-great-grandson.

Preceded in death by her husband Darrell, brothers, John, Vance, and Danton Drollinger, sisters Mary Drollinger, Velda Gowen, and Peggy Mayer, son-in-law David Shields, and step-grandson Jeffery Rasmussen.

The family expresses their appreciation to friends, family and Symbii Hospice for their help in caring for Ruth.

Funeral services will be held Saturday, October 29, 2016 at 10 a.m. at Lindquist’s Layton Mortuary, 1867 No. Fairfield Road.  Friends may visit family Friday from 6 to 8 p.m. and Saturday one hour prior to services.  Interment, Richmond, Utah Cemetery at 1:30 p.m.