Marva L. Stanley

Marva Lerona Stanley passed away on Saturday, August 29, 2026 in a private care home in Hurricane, Utah. She was 89 years old. Marva Lerona Mitton Stanley was born in Kalispell, Flathead County, Montana on October 30, 1936 to Bodil Lerona Piepgrass and Alexander Coyn Mitton. She was the youngest of six children. Her three brothers and two sisters have all preceded Marva in death. Her husband, Fredric William Stanley, has also passed on. They did not have children. 

Marva grew up with her family on a 160 acre farm owned by her father’s parents. The home was rather large, but it had no indoor plumbing. One of Marva’s happiest memories of childhood is a horse her father purchased when she was about three. It was a gentle horse named Breeze and she quickly became one of Marva’s closest animal friends during her childhood. Floyd was the closest sibling age wise and he and Marva enjoyed each other. They could think up some pretty interesting things to do as small children. 

After high school graduation, Marva was given the opportunity to attend a three-month business college for girls in Omaha, Nebraska. This allowed Marva to develop secretarial skills which helped her find employment throughout her life. These skills also helped her in her Church (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) callings, and they furnished her with skills that increased her self-esteem and gave her a measure of satisfaction. 

Marva worked at the Genealogy Library in SLC for five and a half years and loved her job. While working in Salt Lake, she took a driver training class and bought her first car (for $100) when she was 26. Even though she loved her job, she decided to get a job in California and move when 2 of her brothers decided to go. Marva sent a resume to the LDS employment center in LA and was able to get a job with a credit union the first day she applied. Later, she worked for an insurance company. This is where she was working when she met her husband, Fredric William Stanley. They were married on November 2, 1971. She also spent a little time working at a University in the Los Angeles California area. 

Marva had some accidents that put her in a lot of pain. She was very thankful that Fredric was patient and kind for years while she overcame the trials and pains she suffered. Fredric was a capable and dependable bus driver for the Los Angeles Department of Transportation. She and Fredric also started an LDS bookstore in Lancaster, California. 

Her husband Fredric was not a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Marva had been somewhat inactive for some years but one Sunday, the Bishopric came and invited them to church. They went. Soon Marva became the secretary for Primary and Fredric was very proud of her. He had the missionaries teach him the gospel lessons five times before he was able to overcome his word of wisdom problems and get baptized. A year after Fredric passed away, Marva was sealed to him. 

Marva’s favorite employment was working for the Halley-Olsen Funeral Home in Lancaster. This is where she was working when her husband was suffering with lung cancer and he could no longer work. Her employer was very kind and invited her to bring Fredric to work with her, which she sometimes did. When he became very ill they allowed her to take a 7 month leave of absence to care for him until his passing. 

After her husband's death, she continued to work for the funeral home and was also called to serve a mission for the physical facilities department of the Church. For several years she also served a mission working with the young full-time missionaries transporting them to their meetings and attending many of those meetings with them. She enjoyed this service with the missionaries and many times she fed them and became very close to them. 

On December 4, 2004, Marva moved from Lancaster, California, where her husband is buried, to the beautiful town of St. George, Utah. She served a mission at the Bishop’s Storehouse and later served a second mission there. She lived in St George for years and remained very connected to her church and community. 

She later moved to Hurricane into the Heritage Senior Living Home and Care when she was no longer able to safely live on her own. She became involved in her ward family there and continued to share her testimony of the Savior, life experiences and love. Marva could often be seen riding her scooter around town and staying active. Several scooter accidents caused Marva to start to slow down. She continued to welcome visits from friends and loved sharing her sweet treats of Milky Way and Three Musketeer mini candies to all who came. Marva was a social person and loved joking with people and doing kind things for others. Marva maintained a positive outlook on life. She smiled through her pain and brought light and hope to all who she associated with. You will be missed our angel friend!