Beth Fisher Stringham

Beth Fisher Stringham passed away on June 8, after a rapidly progressing, debilitating illness that took her life just three weeks after a confirmed diagnosis. She died with many of her family members at her side.
She was born January 29, 1934 in Cardston, Alberta, Canada, the second child of Orrin P. Fisher and Loila Quinton. She had five brothers and sisters: Nola, Grant (deceased), Lynn, Janice and Jean.
She was raised and received her early education in Hillspring, Alberta where she continues to have many friends. She participated in many activities with her family and friends including basketball, singing in the choir, enjoying summer camps and sleep-overs with friends.
At an early age, she worked for neighbors, tending children, cleaning houses, assisting mothers who were over-burdened, clerking at the Post Office and working in Waterton Park in the summer.
She developed a love for reading which continued throughout her life. As her health deteriorated, she spent many hours reading books on her Kindle. As her energy dissipated, she enjoyed the audio books that could also be listened to on Kindle. After graduation from High School with an excellent academic record, she attended the teacher preparation program at the University of Alberta in Calgary, Alberta, receiving a teaching certificate in 1953. She taught 1st and 2nd grade in Glenwood Alberta for one year. She was judged by her supervisors to be an excellent teacher who had an extraordinary talent for assisting children who found learning to be difficult. Her patience with them produced remedial benefits that enriched the lives of many of her students. She developed unique ways of interacting with the parents of her students, informing them of progress and needs by sharing the actual work that her students had completed at school in a conference held in each parents' home.
Her first year of teaching was also spent in deciding whether or not to marry a fellow teacher who had pursued her for several years. After making the decision, she married Bryant L. Stringham on June 30, 1954 in the Alberta Temple, Cardston, Alberta. She and Bryant then spent the summer in Edmonton where Bryant pursued higher qualifications for jobs in education that he pursued for the next several years.
Beth and Bryant spent their first year of marriage teaching school in Waterton Park School, Alberta. Beth taught twenty-one students in grades one through four, again showing priority interest in those who had difficulty learning. Many years were then spent accompanying her husband as he taught school, administered school systems, pursued advanced qualifications and finally settled in Edmonton where he worked for the Alberta Department of Education.
Beth was busy raising her eight children, teaching in Church auxiliaries and making friends with whom she has had occasional contact over the years. At various times she was a teacher of children with special needs in Primary and Sunday School, teacher of Young Women, Young Women's Counselor and President. She had close associations with many neighborhood and Church friends, some of whom have maintained contact over the years.
Her eight children are: Linda (Tim) Purnell and Sandra (John) Burnham of Edmonton, Alberta; Karen (Terry) Hawkes of Regina Saskatchewan; Kent (Kristine) Stringham of Calgary, Alberta, Robert (Marci) Stringham of New York; with Patricia (Mark) Dixon, Ronald (Sheri) Stringham and Barbara (Alan) Bennett who live nearby in Utah communities. She has 35 grandchildren and 22 great-grandchildren who have provided additional pleasure and purpose to her life. By 1987, the oldest seven children had either married or left home to pursue their own education. Beth missed the opportunities she had taken to read the children's university text books and be a mentor as they prepared projects for university classes.
With the children mostly gone, the family moved to Orem, Utah where her husband had secured another opportunity. She continued to be an active participant in LDS congregations in Orem. She served as Ward Relief Society President, Compassionate Service Leader and as a Missionary in the Utah State Prison, assisting inmates to participate in the Family History program. She earned the reputation of being a devoted, compassionate, decisive, studious and ambitious participant in implementing the programs of the LDS church. She was knowledgeable on many subjects due to her continuing habit of reading widely. Other than almost mastering the Kindle, she was partial to the written word and despised most electronic media (except for Jazz games).
She made many friends by the friendly manner with which she greeted people on her daily walks, for which she became noted throughout her Orem neighborhood. Many hours were spent with her youngest son, Rob, while her husband traveled widely with his work.
She was preceded in death by her father, mother and brother Grant. She is survived by her husband and all of her eight children, three sisters, Nola Smith of Cedar Hills, Janice Woodruff of Olds, Alberta, Jean Sorenson of Nampa, Idaho, and one brother, Lynn Fisher of Leavitt, Alberta.
Beth will be sorely missed and fondly remembered by hundreds who knew and loved her, including her extended family of some 90 individuals, her cherished children and her loving husband.
Funeral services will be held Saturday, June 16, at 11:30 a.m. at Stonewood Stake Center, 450 South, 100 West, Orem, Utah. Family and friends may visit on Saturday from 9:00 - 11:00 AM at the Stonewood Stake Center. Interment in the Provo City Cemetery immediately after the funeral.
Beth requested that donations to the LDS Church Perpetual Education Fund be made in lieu of flowers.