Violet Thomson

Violet Marie Karrels Heemeyer Thomson

BOUNTIFUL, UT – Violet Marie Karrels Heemeyer Thomson, age 94, beloved wife, mother, grandmother and great grandmother, died from causes incident to age on Friday, December 26, 2014, at North Canyon Care Center.   Marie Karrels was born in Meade County on a farm east of Tilford, South Dakota on March 20, 1920. She was born to Joseph Anthony and Henrietta Marie (Brazier) Karrels, the youngest of 3 children.

She attended schools in Spearfish and Castlewood, South Dakota. She graduated from Castlewood High School in 1938. She married Harold Heemeyer on April 14, 1939. Together they had four beautiful children, Lois Marie, Myron Harold, James Richard and David Joseph. During their seventeen-year marriage they moved around quite a bit, living in South Dakota, Minnesota, California, Wyoming and Nevada.

In her early years, Marie enjoyed farm work, school and dancing, eventually receiving her teaching certificate from Black Hills Teachers College.  She taught at Pluma School, worked in the flower shop and cooked in a café at the Spearfish Canyon Lodge. She was a chairwoman of the Government Club while living in Lead, South Dakota.

Marie became a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS) in 1953. She gained a very strong and lasting testimony of the life and love of Jesus Christ and it is that faith that sustained her through many of her earthly trials.

She moved to Salt Lake City, Utah in 1958. She worked at Sperry Rand in production and then went on to receive her Bachelor of Science degree in Education from the University of Utah. She taught school until she married Garth W. Thomson on February 16, 1968. Marie and Garth lived in Ephraim, Utah for 23 years. She owned and operated Ephraim Health Foods. She loved running her health food store and visiting with her customers. She also enjoyed being active in her church, gardening, reading, and swimming.

After Garth passed away from pancreatic cancer in 1991, Marie moved to Bountiful, Utah to be closer to her family. While there, she enjoyed friends and many happy times in her retirement community. She traveled to Hawaii, Australia, Denmark, Norway and Sweden. She researched her family genealogy, kept many records, attended the temple and served a mission for the LDS Church.

Marie’s life was not without heartache, deep loss and many physical trials. She relied on her unwavering faith and the strong love she had for her family to rise above these challenges in her life. Her greatest loves in life were her four children, her grandchildren and her testimony of Jesus Christ.

Marie is remembered with love by her daughter, Lois Marie O’Brien and her husband Gary, her Son, James Richard Heemeyer and his wife Jeanne, 10 living grandchildren and many, many more great grandchildren, great, great grandchildren and step-grandchildren. She will be greatly missed.

Marie was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, Garth W. Thomson, her brother Lawrence Karrels, her sister Celeste Charlotte McPherson, her son Myron (Mick) Harold Heemeyer, her son David Joe Heemeyer and her granddaughter Susan Rae LeMmon Hill.

Funeral services will be held on Saturday, January 3, 2015 at 11 a.m. at the LDS Kimball Mill Ward building at 650 S. 200 E., Bountiful, Utah. Friends may visit the family on Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. at the church.  Services entrusted to Lindquist’s Bountiful Mortuary, 727 N 400 E, Bountiful, Utah 84010. Burial will follow at Wasatch Lawn Memorial Park in Salt Lake City, Utah.