Our Mimi is homeward bound. Beloved matriarch Mabel McKnight Mitchell passed away peacefully on July 10, 2013, at her home in St. George. Mabel was born to William Clark McKnight and Martha Minerva Leavitt November 20, 1916, in Beaver Dam, Arizona, a place she was always proud to call home. She began her education in the one-room schoolhouse in Littlefield, Arizona and later returned to teach there. At Arizona State Teachers College she was not only the homecoming queen but also an outstanding debater and actress. Starring in a play, she fell in love with the male lead, her future husband Andrew Mitchell.
Mom spent 96 years loving to learn and teach. She taught gospel doctrine, seminary, homemaking, pre-school, 3rd - 5th grade and her favorite: high school English. She also loved to write. She wrote long letters to her family, opinions to the newspapers, patriotic presentations, hundreds of speeches and a biography. She was never afraid to speak her mind.
Mom cherished her family, her students, her neighbors in Beaver Dam, Boulder City, Heber Valley, and Sterling Court and they all cherished her. She leaves a legacy of reading fine literature, gardening, cooking for the neighbors, working hard, and putting her faith into practice. Mimi devoted her boundless energy and enthusiasm not only to those she loved but also to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Andrew and Mabel were married for 71 years before his passing and he is tapping his feet in anticipation of her arrival. She leaves behind: four daughters, Judith Ann (Marvin) Johnson, Mary Antoinette, Michele (Franklin) Kolsky, and Andrea Jill (Marlo) Krogue; granddaughter Kristin (Wes) Fredrickson; grandsons Robert Highfill and Nelson Krogue; great grandson Andrew Abbott; great granddaughter Evelyn Fredrickson and great great granddaughters Autumn & Kamy Abbott. Her parents, 6 of her 9 siblings, and grandson Steven Boiles preceded her in death.
Funeral services will be held Saturday, July 20, 2013 at 10:00 a.m. (AZ Time) at the Littlefield, AZ LDS Chapel on Highway 91. A visitation will be held Saturday at the Chapel one hour prior to the services. Interment will follow at the City of Mesquite Cemetery, Mesquite, Nevada.