Elinor Boggs Frandsen

Mabel Elinor Boggs, 89, passed away on Decermber 31, 2006 in Provo, Utah. She was born to Mabel Donges and Russell Alger Boggs on July 13, 1917, in Harmony, Pennsylvania. Her father died when she was eleven years old from tuberculosis. She and her brother had to live in a sanitarium for a time following his death. Her widowed mother struggled from that point on to provide for her family. They lived in several places in Pennsylvania and later in Seattle, Washington. Her family remembers stories of struggle especially during the Depression.
Elinor loved sports as a girl. She attended secretarial school and later worked as a secretary and moved to Dallas, Texas, where she opened a branch of the companya€"part of the aircraft industrya€"where she had been working. She was working in Los Angeles, California, in the 1940s when she met two young men who had just returned from missions to Germany for the LDS church. She was introduced to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and was later baptized.
She fell in love with one of those young men, Richard Frandsen, and married him in the Salt Lake Temple in November 1944. It was war time and there was no wedding celebration. They immediately moved to Little Rock, Arkansas, where Dick was stationed in the U.S. Army Dental Corps where their daughter, Diane, was born.
After the war, they moved to Hawthorne, California, for a time. They bought a dental practice and later moved to Salt Lake City, Utah where their son, Ted, was born. It was a terrible winter and Elinor and Dick decided to move to sunnier climes. They settled themselves in Arcadia, California, where they lived for over 25 years. Elinor helped Dick in his practice, later worked for an interior decorator, and eventually went into business for herselfa€"opening Interiors Unlimited. She ran her decorating business at a time when not many women did such things.
She later moved to Provo, Utah where she has lived for 25 years. She loved the beauty here and wanted every fall to drive through the canyons to see the changing leaves. She took full advantage of Brigham Young University where she loved to take religion classes. She became friends with many of the professors because of the frequency of her attendance in their classes.
Elinor embraced the gospel with all her heart and served her whole life with enthusiasm and dedication in every calling, stake and ward. She loved her country. She traveled abroad but also loved to come home. She visited Israel several times in her lifea€"a favorite place because of the Savior Jesus Christ and His life. She served as an ordinance worker in the Provo Temple for 12 years, one of the joys of her life. She was an avid genealogist, having submitted over 10,000 names to the church. She was the only member of the church in her family and took her responsibilities seriously.
Elinor had an artistic gift. She was asked many times to provide flower arrangements for special events. She loved the beautiful colors in the world and expressed herself through her oil painting. Part of her legacy will be to share her art with her family, having asked each of them to choose a favorite painting to remember her by.
She leaves her daughter Diane Southwick and Diane's son Ryan; her son Ted (Alene) Frandsen and his sons; Brian, Matthew (MariCarmen), and Russell. The last and best joy of her life was great-grandson Michael (Matt's son) age one.
Her children admire her greatly because she came from near-poverty and really made something of her life. She leaves a legacy of hard work, dedication to the Gospel and all its principles, love of beauty and learning, determination and enthusiasm for living. As she lay in her hospital bed, she said, "I've loved my life!" Thanks for all the lessons, Mom.
A funeral will be held on Saturday, January 6 at 11:00 a.m. at the Edgemont Stake Center, 303 West 3700 North, in Provo, Utah. Family and friends may call at a viewing held prior to the service from 9:30 until 10:30 a.m. Funeral arrangements provided by SereniCare Funeral Home,
Interment at East Lawn Memorial Hills Cemetery, Provo, Utah. Online condolences may be submitted to www.serenicare.com.