Gay Lynn McClure Smith, born March 6, 1949 in Orange, Orange County, California to Edna and Charlie McClure, passed away at home in Payson on March 12, 2021.
She had just had her 72nd birthday the week prior. She is survived by four of her 10 siblings, and 12 of her 13 children, her bakers dozen!
She is also survived by 38 of her 40 grandchildren, and 11 of her 12 great-grandchildren (with at least one more of each on the way) and many more stepchildren, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.
Family was obviously a big part of who she was and she often said that the unconditional love of a baby was why she had as many as she did. She was affectionately known as “Momma” to her children and “baby sister” to most of her siblings.
Gay was a convert to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the age of 16 and had a testimony of the gospel until the day she died. She moved around a lot both as a child and in married life, but later would come to call Sanpete County home.
She lived in Manti and Ephraim for extended periods while raising her family. One of her favorite things to do was to have family get-togethers for Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, birthdays, or anything else she could think of.
All she ever wanted was a house big enough for all her stuff and for family to come and visit. She didn’t aspire to worldly recognition, but would brag to anyone that would listen about any of her kids’ or grandkids’ accomplishments.
Some of her hobbies included sewing, cooking, country music, sports (softball, volleyball, basketball, and football), and collecting. Being raised without much to call her own, Gay had several collections of items that meant the most to her and loved going on frequent trips to the local Deseret Industries or thrift store to find hidden treasures.
She often could see value in the simplest of things. She loved watching any football that was on television (especially the 49ers or BYU), even if that was re-runs from 30 years ago.
She was often the most vocal fan in the stands, whether there were 60,000 other fans at a BYU football game or six at a local church ball game. If a referee were within earshot, they’d better be making the right calls!
Though it is hard to say goodbye, we know how much she’s been looking forward to a reunion with the one child she lost, Jared, when he was just 15 years old. Her broken heart can now finally be mended in a way that only our Savior knows how. How sweet the tears must be to see those that have gone before.
Because of this we’ll look forward to the day when we can all gather together again at Momma’s house for some homemade banana bread and freshly squeezed orange juice.
A viewing was held on Saturday, March 20, 2021 with the funeral services following at the LDS meetinghouse on 420 N. 200 Worth in Ephraim, near the cemetery. A luncheon was held afterwards for close friends and family members.
