Rae Harding

Letitia Rae Dunn Harding

August 20, 1936 ~ November 9, 2021

Letitia Rae Dunn Harding “Rae” was born to Leslie Smith Dunn and Anne Mitton Dunn on August 20, 1936, in Logan, Utah and passed away on November 9, 2021 in Ogden, Utah of acute renal failure. She was the fifth of six children. She lived in Logan until the age of 7, at which time her family moved to Ogden and later settled in Washington Terrace. She attended Washington Terrace Elementary School and Junior High. When the new South Junior High was built in 1950, she was a member of the first 9th grade class. She graduated from “the real” Weber High School in 1954.

Mom was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She was sealed for time and all eternity to Ralph Eugene Harding in the Salt Lake City LDS Temple on August 27, 1954. From this union came six children: Douglas (Jean), Jeffrey (Karen), Bruce (Cindy), Scott (Page), Karen (Chad) Hassell, and Maryanne (Jeff) Ogden. She has 18 grandchildren and 28 great-grandchildren. She has adopted as her own many of our friends and loved them dearly. She also has many nieces and nephews that have always been so dear to her. For Mom, once you came into the family, you were hers. There were no in-laws or out-laws. Mom had a way of making you feel like you were her favorite.

Mom was active in church and held many positions including Young Women President, Relief Society President both Ward and Stake, choir director, chorister, organist, Secretary to the Stake President, Secretary to the Regional Council and many more. In addition to all of this, she was an ordinance worker in the Ogden LDS Temple. She loved all of her positions in the church. Mom always had very fond memories of the old Ogden 13th Ward. She was a member of the Washington Terrace 1st Ward until it was dissolved, then she became a member of the Washington Terrace 6th Ward. When she and Dad moved to South Ogden, they became members of the South Ogden 6th Ward.

Mom worked for the Boeing Company and eventually retired as the Manager of Personnel for Utah. She enjoyed working there and the friendships that were gained. She joined the company bowling and golf leagues. We can’t say for sure if she ever really enjoyed either sport, but she had a lot of fun with her friends.

Mom was extremely talented. She was a poet and would write poems for any occasion.  More than once, she was asked to write a roadshow for her ward. She had only a few months of formal training on the piano, but she was an amazing piano player. She accompanied her junior and high school choirs and for the operettas that were performed.  In junior high, Mom played the role of Little Buttercup in the operetta H.M.S. Pinafore along with playing the piano for the production.  In the 9th grade she accompanied her choir class in a performance of the Hallelujah Chorus.

She accompanied many choirs and solo singers over the years. Mom sang with the Jay Welch Chorale for over 20 years and experienced great joy with her associations there.  Mom loved singing and performing with her sisters. The Dunn Sisters were known to break into 5-part harmony at any given time when they were together. They often sang their grandfather’s original songs at family gatherings. They even recorded a CD for their families.

Mom loved to crochet and many of us are recipients of baby blankets, kitchen towels, afghans, and baby shawls.

Mom loved to travel and she shared that love with each of us. Mom and Dad made sure we always had at least one big vacation a year. Most of the time it was camping with our tent trailer, but we didn’t care.  It was the memories that were important.

Mom was a member of the Foster Care Citizens Review Board for the State of Utah for several years. She loved her time on the board but also said it was one of the hardest things she had ever done. She absolutely was an advocate for those children.

While Mom was very human, she was truly an example of the pure love of Christ. She exemplified this every day in her actions and thoughts. She taught us through her actions what charity looks like, how to care for others, and how to love and be kind to those around us.

Mom is survived by her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, sister Ann and brother-in-law Gary Bingham, brother-in-law, Mel Staheli, and sister-in-law Gwen (Arvis) Harding. She was preceded in death by her husband Ralph, her parents, siblings and their spouses, Marge (Asael) Boyce, Elaine Staheli, Mary (Bill) Staheli, Leslie Jr. (Marion) Dunn, and granddaughter Danielle.

The family would like to acknowledge and thank Lisa Carter of Intermountain Hospice for her tender care for mom in her final days.

Funeral services will be held on Saturday, November 20, 2021 at 11 a.m. at the South Ogden 6th Ward Chapel, 4380 Orchard. Friends may visit with the family on Friday from 6 to 8 p.m. at Lindquist’s Ogden Mortuary, 3408 Washington Blvd and Saturday from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. at the church. Interment, Brigham City Cemetery.

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

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