Linda Harley Smith
Linda Harley Smith
1940 ~ 2024
Linda Harley Smith, 84, passed away peacefully in Highland, Utah, surrounded by her loving family on July 12, 2024. She passed due to the effects of Alzheimer’s disease.
She was born Linda Lucille Harley on February 5, 1940 in Los Angeles, CA. She is the second oldest of the four daughters of Arthur and Katherine Harley. She grew up at 911 Third Avenue in Los Angeles and went to Los Angeles High School graduating in 1958. She was on the Neptunettes synchronized swimming team.
Her mother had graduated from UCLA and placed importance on her daughters getting a university education. Linda attended Brigham Young University and graduated with a bachelor’s of nursing in 1962. She met Mark Smith in 1960 and they married on May 28, 1962 in the Salt Lake City LDS temple.
They had their first son Glenn in Provo, Utah in 1963 and then moved to Burbank, CA in 1964. Douglas was born in 1966, Craig in 1969 and Allison in 1979. They raised their family in a modest home at 915 E Palm Ave in Burbank. Her children were all the more meaningful to her due to the extreme level and duration of illness she endured during her pregnancies.
Family life was full of participation at church and around their children’s activities. She was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She was an attentive stay-at-home mother encouraging her children’s education and interests.
Memorable family vacations included going to Utah to visit Mark’s parents most summers, tent trailer camping across the USA, a trip to Northern California and a trip to Yellowstone. They visited Europe with Doug and Brazil with Allison. They also cherished trips to Hawaii and the Holy Land. Family get-togethers to celebrate birthdays or holidays were frequent and memorable.
They moved to Valencia, California and had their home heavily damaged in the 1994 Northridge earthquake forcing a move to another home in Valencia. In 2007 they moved to American Fork, Utah for their retirement years enjoying time with family in Utah.
Later in life, Linda worked part-time for the Burbank Adult school for 20 years. She taught English as a second language. She loved her students and her students loved her back. This opened up an opportunity for her husband to also work at the school.
She will be remembered as a loving daughter, sister, wife, mother and grandmother. Some of her personal interests over the years included family history, quilting, sewing, needlepoint and cake decorating. She and Mark were consistently in attendance at their children’s and grandchildren’s important life events. Linda cared deeply for her family and demonstrated her love in words and deeds.
Linda loved the gospel of Jesus Christ. She gained her testimony by attending church at Wilshire Ward, seminary and church activities. Linda served others by taking meals to those in need or watching friends’ children while they were at the hospital. She loved reading the scriptures and learning more about them. She served in the church as Visiting Teacher, Webelos Leader, Relief Society Counselor, Primary President, Sunday School Teacher and in the Los Angeles Temple for 5 years with her sweetheart, Mark.
She was preceded in death by her parents, in-laws and her husband. She is survived by three sisters, Helen Baker, Barbara Nagel and Margaret Deford, her four children Glenn (Dianne), Douglas (Christi), Craig (Carolyn) and Allison Dobson (Mike), twelve grandchildren and twelve great-grandchildren.
Funeral services will be held on Friday, July 19, 2024 at 11:00 am in the Manila Creek 2nd Ward Chapel, located at 1320 West 3540 North, Pleasant Grove, Utah, Family and friends are invited to attend a visitation on Friday morning from 9:30-10:30 am prior to services at the church.