LaRae Vanfleet

LaRae King Vanfleet

Elaine LaRae King Vanfleet, “Aunt LaRae,” passed peacefully into the next life early January 6, 2015.  She was 83 years old.  LaRae was never blessed with children, but will be greatly missed by her cousins, nieces, and nephews.  We loved her.

LaRae was born October 14, 1931 in Salt Lake City, Utah to Buren Vincent King and Mildred Newton King.  She was the oldest of two surviving children.  Her younger brother, Gerald Newton King, preceded her in death in 2008.  Her husband, Rulon Keith Vanfleet, “Uncle Keith,” passed away in 1988.

As a child, LaRae lived in the Avenues with her family and attended Lowell and Ensign Elementary Schools.  The year she turned 11 (1942) her Dad got a job at Hill Field and the family moved to Layton.  In 1950 she graduated from Davis High School and Barnes Seminary. In 1954 she received the Golden Gleaner award.

During her career she was a librarian at the Ogden Carnegie Free Library, the US Coast and Geodetic Survey in Rockville, MD, and Weber State College.  The latter is where she met her future sister-in-law. It was LaRae who introduced her brother Gerald to his future wife, N. Lenore Hansen, who was also a librarian at Weber State.

In 1969 she married Rulon Keith Vanfleet in the Salt Lake Temple.  During their marriage they lived near the Sugarhouse area of Salt Lake.  After Keith’s passing she helped care for her ailing father in Layton, eventually moving back to the family home where she stayed after his passing.

LaRae was a sweet, generous soul, a kind neighbor, and a good friend.  She enjoyed scrapbooking, but her greatest passion was family history.  She loved researching and finding her ancestors and eventually became a member of the Daughters of Utah Pioneers.  We are sure that hundreds greeted her on the other side in gratitude for the work she did for them.  She leaves an incredible legacy behind for her surviving family.

Services will be held Saturday, January 10, 2015 at 11 a.m. at the LDS Chapel on 789 E. Wasatch Dr. in Layton, Utah.  Friends may visit family Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. at the church.  Interment, Garland Cemetery.

Services entrusted to Lindquist’s Layton Mortuary, 1867 No. Fairfield Road.

In lieu of flowers, please make a donation in LaRae’s name to the Genealogical Society of Utah, 50 East North Temple Street, Salt Lake City, UT 84150.