Deanne Louise Gurr Matheny
Deanne Louise Gurr Matheny
1951 ~ 2023
Deanne Louise Gurr Matheny, 72, passed away on October 17, 2023 in Lehi, Utah. Deanne was born on October 12, 1951 in Vernal, Utah, to Louise Harper Gurr and Hyrum Deloss (Dee) Gurr. She grew up in nearby Neola, Utah near her grandmother and several aunts, uncles, and cousins. She was an avid reader and life-long learner and was generous and kind to others. She loved her family and friends dearly and was a devoted daughter, wife, mother, stepmother, Grandma/Granny, and friend.
She developed a love of reading at an early age, and as a child she eagerly awaited the bookmobile that would bring her new books to borrow and read each month. She fell in love with learning and was fascinated by ancient Egypt and dreamt of becoming an archaeologist someday.
Deanne’s love of reading and learning stayed with her throughout her life and led her to enthusiastically pursue her education. She attended Brigham Young University where her dream of becoming an archaeologist was realized and she earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in archaeology. She completed a Ph.D. in anthropology at the University of Utah. Deanne also received a J.D. from BYU Law School.
She was adventurous and loved to travel and learn about cultures around the world. She enjoyed doing archaeological fieldwork in diverse places such as southeastern Utah, Mexico, Guatemala, and Israel. Many of the people she got to know during her fieldwork became life-long friends. She also took flying lessons and learned to fly airplanes.
In 1979, Deanne married the love of her life and fellow archaeologist, Ray T. Matheny. They had two children together and Deanne also loved Ray’s six children from his previous marriage. Deanne and Ray were married for forty years at the time of Ray’s death.
Deanne worked as Corporate Counsel at the software companies Wordperfect and Novell, and then as Vice President of Human Resources at Altiris until she retired. She enjoyed the friendships with colleagues that she developed in these roles, as well as the travel that was involved to many interesting places, such as Latin America, Europe, and Australia.
Although she practiced law for most of her career, Deanne remained active in the field of archaeology throughout her life, continuing to do fieldwork, attend conferences, and write publications.
Deanne was an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and she served in various callings throughout her life.
Deanne is survived by her children Nicole (Scott) Huddleston and Julia (David) Halverson, as well as Ray’s children from his previous marriage: Michael (DiAnne) Matheny, Kathleen (Jessie) Anderson, Lucinda (Terry) Walker, Daniel (Shari) Matheny, Lisa (Justin) Holmes. She is also survived by 23 grandchildren, as well as numerous great and great-great grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband, Ray, her parents, stepson Jon, granddaughter Emily, and great-granddaughter Juniper.
A memorial service will be held in Deanne’s honor on Saturday, November 4th, 2023 at 11:00 am MDT at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, 587 South Saratoga Road, Saratoga Springs, Utah 84045. A graveside service will be held on the same day at 2:00 pm MDT at Lehi City Cemetery, 1525 North 600 East Lehi, Utah 84043.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to the Maya Educational Foundation (https://mayaedufound.org/), a nonprofit that Deanne admired and supported.