Frances B. Monson

Frances Beverly (Johnson) Monson, 85, wife of President Thomas S. Monson for more than 64 years, died early Friday morning, May 17, in a Salt Lake City hospital surrounded by family. She died of causes incident to age. President Monson said his wife "was the family's beacon of love, compassion and encouragement." Frances was born on October 27, 1927 in Salt Lake City, Utah to her parents, the late Franz Emanuel and Hildur Augusta (Booth) Johnson. She grew up during the Great Depression. She was the youngest of five children and her parents' only daughter. She was named after her father, Franz. Frances graduated from East High School in Salt Lake City and studied math and science at the University of Utah. She played the piano, and often played tennis at Liberty Park as a teenager. Sister Monson was often described as "quiet and unassuming." President Monson has said that his wife always supported him in his Church assignments. "Never once has she complained," he said. "Never once. Not in our entire married life has she done anything to keep me from any aspect of my service. I have never received anything but support and encouragement from Frances." President Monson first saw his future wife at a University of Utah "Hello Day" dance, catching his first glimpse of her as she danced with another boy. Watching from a distance, he determined to find a way to meet her. A month later, he saw her waiting for a streetcar with some friends and rode the car with them. He called her later that night and arranged their first date. President and Sister Monson's first date was a dance at the Pioneer Stake building; they double-dated with friends. They were married on October 7, 1948, in the Salt Lake Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints four years after they met. President Monson wrote of his date with Frances on New Year's Eve 1944, remembering she had to be home by 2:00 a.m. because she had to go to work on New Year's Day. He learned she worked in the copy room at the Deseret News. "Little did I know at that time I would have a career working at the same company," he noted. During college, she worked in the accounting department at a department store to help pay for school. It was during her university days that she met her husband, who, like her, was of Swedish descent. They had three children: Thomas Lee, Ann Frances and Clark Spencer; 8 grandchildren and 7 great-grandchildren. Frances Monson taught her boys to raise Birmingham Roller pigeons. She was a bargain hunter, reading both Salt Lake City newspapers daily searching for coupons and deals, her daughter said. The couple's three children said their mother had a knack for budgeting, bookkeeping and finding deals. She excelled at math and science and was the one in the house who fixed electrical switches or plumbing leaks. As the family's handywoman, she spent Christmas morning assembling bikes, toys and dollhouses. She once left a note reading, "Dear children, do not let Daddy touch the microwave, or the stove, or the dishwasher or the dryer." Their daughter, Ann Monson Dibb, once said of her mother: "My mother is unlike many of the women of today's generation. Instead of looking for the recognition of the world, she has always received her acknowledgment of worth from such things as the happy smile of a son or the outstretched hand of a grandchild. President Wilford Woodruff once said that the mother has greater influence over her posterity than any other person can have, and her influence is felt through time and eternity. I am grateful to my mother, thankful for her influence, and pray that I might always be worthy of her love. As I reflect upon the many blessings which I have received as the daughter of an Apostle of the Lord, the one which means the most to me is the gift and blessing of the woman he married, my mother. "Dibb said her final memory of her mother will be from a drive home together after Dibb spoke at The Church's General Young Women's Conference. Though Frances Monson could no longer have full conversations, she let her daughter know how proud she was. Elias Monson, uncle of President Monson's father, helped bring the Johnson family into the Church in Sweden while serving a mission there. "I was soon to learn," President Monson once said, "Frances was an ideal bishop's wife. Within a year of our marriage, I was called to the bishopric, later bishop, and subsequently stake and mission responsibilities. In each calling I have constantly discovered new abilities and talents in my wife. She is at my side to help in every way." Sister Monson has said, "It has never been a sacrifice to see my husband doing the Lord's work. It has blessed me, and it has blessed our children. He always knew that if it was for the Church, I expected him to do what he had to do." Publicly, very little was known about her, despite being the matriarch of the Monson family. She made occasional appearances at The Church's semi-annual General Conferences but opted not to give any talks of her own. "She was fairly quiet and didn't want to be viewed as a figurehead or public figure." Utah Governor Gary Herbert and Senator Orrin Hatch both called her a remarkable woman, with Hatch saying in a statement that she "had a quiet strength you could feel in her presence." Sister Monson served in the Primary, Sunday School, Relief Society, and Young Women. She also earned the Golden Gleaner award. Although their entire married life involved Church leadership, she recalled her surprise to hear that her husband had been called to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. "He came home one evening and said, I want you to go for a drive with me,'" she told the Church News. "I couldn't imagine why, all of a sudden, he would want to go out for a drive," she said. "We took our youngest son, who was three. We drove to the This Is the Place Monument, where he parked the car. We got out and walked around the monument, reading the inscriptions dedicated to the pioneers. "He then told me that President David O. McKay had called him that day to be a member of the Quorum of the Twelve. "I was surprised and humbled," Sister Monson said. "That was a most significant call and an overwhelming responsibility, but it has been very rewarding. Our lives have been enriched." Millions of people, throughout the world, will always remember her for he quiet gentle strength as well as her constant benevolence and loving support, not only to her eternal companion, Thomas S. Monson, but to her family as well. She had a fervent and strong testimony of the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ and, throughout her long life, shared her testimony that "we are all children of Our Heavenly Father and that He knows each each of us, by name, and loves us unconditionally, beyond comprehension." She truly lived her life as a daughter of God and will forever be remember for her goodness. --Story by Joseph Walker; Tom Hatch and Timothy Livingston contributed to this article Any who wish may come to Owens Livingston Mortuary - White Mountain Chapel, 320 N. 9th Street in Show Low from May 20, 2013 to May 24, 2013 between the hours of 8:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M. or to Owens Livingston Mortuary - Heritage Chapel, 84 E. 19th South in Snowflake between the hours of 10:00 A.M. to 3:00 P.M. to share your personal messages of love and comfort for the Monson Family in the special memorial guest book. That book will be sent to President Thomas S. Monson at Church Headquarters in Salt Lake City. Or, click on the link at the top of this obituary to sign your online condolence so it may be downloaded, printed and sent along with the guest book. Your love, concern and prayers will be appreciated so very much.