Nanette Buehler Gift Smith

On Monday, April 15, 2024, Nanette Smith passed away peacefully at her home in Ogden, Utah, after being involved in an automobile accident a week before.

Nan was born on November 18, 1937, to Clyde and Eleanor (Stevens) Buehler in Ogden, Utah.

She graduated from Ogden High School in 1955 and attended the University of Utah until she married her high school sweetheart, Jack Gift, in November of that year. The newlyweds lived in Logan, Utah, where Jack attended Utah State University. Their first child was born in 1956. A second child arrived in 1958 while the couple lived in Salt Lake City and Jack took classes at the University of Utah. The small family returned to live in Ogden after a year in Salt Lake, and three more children were born in the following years.

In 1967, Jack and Nan moved their family to Taylor, Utah, West of Ogden, a rural area where Jack could pursue his love of raising and training racehorses and the couple could provide their children with opportunities to work and play and grow.

Jack died after a chariot racing accident in 1976, leaving Nan with five children, three of whom were still in school and living at home. She moved back to Ogden in 1978 to a home near her parents’ house where she lived the rest of her life.

In 1979, she married her second sweetheart, Arnold Smith, who had four children of his own. Arnie has been a pillar of strength and service to all the children in the blended family, selflessly sharing his time and talents. Arnie and Nan lovingly referred to the entire tribe as the “Smigafits”!

They had been married for 45 years at the time of her passing.

Nan prioritized her family and friends. She never missed recognizing and giving a birthday gift and a card to each member of her expanding family, including her nine children, her sons and a daughters-in-law, her 30 grandchildren, and her 58 great-grandchildren. She loved and adored each grandchild and accepted all without conditions.

On holidays, up to and including Christmas Eve of 2023, Arnie and Nan hosted the entire gang at their home for celebrations and gift-giving.

At 86, Nan was friends with a group of women she’d known since her youth. They got together to play bridge, have lunch, or just catch up through the many seasons of their lives. All her relationships were precious to her.

Nan was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Malan Peak Ward in Ogden, where she had many dear friends and served in many callings. She loved attending the LDS Temple.

When a grandchild recently asked Nan to write her epitaph, she wrote, “Her greatest blessing was that she was given so many wonderful people to love.”

Nan is survived by her husband, Arnold Raymond Smith; her nine children and their spouses, Alan (Carilyn) Gift, Greg (Mary) Gift, Shelly Smith (Todd Vernon), Paul (Pam) Gift, Paula (Kirk) Rentmeister, Brock (Marcene) Smith, Heidi (Stephen) Hall, Bonnie (Scott) Evertsen, and Steve (Kathy) Gift; 30 grandchildren, and 58 great-grandchildren; and her brother, Scott (Kelly) Buehler.

She was preceded in death by her first husband, Jack Alan Gift; granddaughter, Emily Ann Wall; great-grandson, Trayden Gallegos; her parents, Clyde and Eleanor Buehler; her sister, Patti (Norris) Johanson; and her brother, Joe Buehler.

Funeral services will be held on Monday, April 22, 2024, at 11 a.m. at Lindquist’s Ogden Mortuary, 3408 Washington Blvd. Friends may visit with family on Sunday from 6 to 8 p.m. and Monday from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. at the mortuary. Interment, Lindquist’s Washington Heights Memorial Park, 4500 Washington Blvd.

Services will be live-streamed and available the day of the services by scrolling to the bottom of Nanette’s obituary page at: www.lindquistmortuary.com  where condolences may also be shared.