Maureen Grace Geist Arceneaux

Maureen Grace Geist Arceneaux passed away September 30 in her home, where she longed to be, surrounded by family after an extended illness. She was born September 15, 1939 in Gunnison, Utah to Grace Donna Beck Snell and John Lloyd Geist. Maureen was a devoted mother, grandmother, wife, daughter, sister, friend, cousin, reader, scholar, historian, genealogist, gardener, and co-worker. Funeral services will be held Wednesday, October 6, 2010 at 11 a.m. at the Orem Hillcrest 4th Ward Chapel located at 440 E 800 S Orem, UT. Viewings will take place at the chapel on the previous evening, October 5, 2010, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. and at 9:30 a.m. prior to the funeral at the 4th ward building. Interment will be at the Utah Veterans Memorial following the service. Condolences can be sent to the family at www.serenicare.com. Maureen is survived by her husband Charles Arceneaux; four children: Lynn (L. D.) Weller (wife Nancy), Orem, Utah; David Arceneaux, Anaheim, California; Aimee Marsh (husband Tom), Petersburg, Alaska; and Catherine Arceneaux, Salt Lake City; and six grandchildren: Lynn (Danny), Emily, and John Weller; and Ben, Grace, and Seth Marsh. Her brother, Beck Geist, also survives her. She was in the first graduating class from Orem High School where she was both a Tigerette and a delegate to Girl's State. She attended Brigham Young University on a Hinkley Scholarship earning two degrees, a Bachelor of Arts for Political Science in 1960 and returning later to get a PhD for American History in 1989. In her life she made homes in Orem, Salt Lake City; Kansas City, Missouri; Bluebell, Pennsylvania; Sugarland, Texas; and in Lafayette, Louisiana where she learned to love the Cajun culture that was a part of the life of her husband of 36 years, Charles Arceneaux. Maureen was an avid reader and it was rare when there was not a book somewhere within arms' reach of her. She loved the works of Agatha Christie, Erle Stanley Gardener, Stephanie Meyers, and Patrick O'Brian in particular. She loved her family and to laugh, garden, sew, scrapbook, learn, cook new foods, try new things and to do genealogy and family research. She loved history and was rarely happier than when visiting historical locations or traveling the paths of the founding fathers or Louis & Clark She was proud of her heritage and was devoted to her cousins and aunts in the Beck family. She will be missed at the Beck family reunions that were always a big part of her life. Maureen was a lifelong and fiercely loyal friend and is rejoicing being reunited with her mother, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and with her great friends Norma and Muriel. Maureen was a groundbreaker in the 1960s & 1970s by being a programmer for AT&T and then at BYU at a time when there were few women systems analysts. Early in her life she learned to overcome adversity and always supported her mother who, as a single parent, raised both her and her brother. During her own life Maureen was also a single parent for a short time during which she went back to school to earn her doctorate. Maureen worked in the Louisiana oil industry spending countless hours in Parish courthouses researching ownership of mineral rights. She was an accredited genealogist and during the final phase of her professional life she was a program manager for the LDS Church Genealogy Department and assisted in the great work done to improve the reliability localities in the master data base. Maureen spoke her mind was always direct and to the point. It was hard not to be impressed with her intelligent and inquisitive mind. She rarely accepted 'no' for an answer when it came the welfare and wellbeing of her family and friends and professional responsibilities. There was little that would deter her from achieving what was needed. She will be greatly missed.