Kay Irene Moser White

1933 – 2021

Kay Irene Moser White’s life of service ended peacefully at home on June 5, 2021, due to the effects of Alzheimer’s, raising seven headstrong children, and shepherding hundreds (maybe thousands) of missionaries over the years.

Kay was born to Alpha Lula Moore and John Franklin Moser on September 15th, 1933 in Turner Valley, Alberta Canada, where she loved her two sisters, her horses and the windswept plains of Alberta.

As a youngster, Kay’s family moved to the sun-soaked sands of Moapa Valley, Nevada, where she was a baton twirler in high school, and where she was introduced to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by her best friend, Alene.

While attending Branch Agricultural College in Cedar City, Utah, Kay met the only boy who was a strong enough tenor to match her beautiful soprano singing voice. Kay and Norman Nelson White were married on April 12th, 1952 and later sealed in the St. George LDS Temple. Nine months after their wedding-to the day-their first child was born.

Norman’s Air Force career as a fighter pilot took them to many states and abroad. Along the way, Kay began painting in watercolor and oil and became known for her striking paintings of fighter jets set against stunning skies. Many of her works were commissioned to hang in airbase officers’ clubs.

Following Air Force retirement, Kay and Norm moved to Provo, Utah where her painting subject matter turned to pastoral landscapes, often with missionaries in them. Together, they served four missions, presiding over the California Sacramento Mission, the England Missionary Training Center and the Los Angeles Temple Visitors Center. They also served at the Provo MTC. In between missions, Kay enjoyed sleepovers and trips with the grandkids to the museums and Creamery at BYU.

After a hiatus of more than 30 years-once her kids were all grown-Kay started back to school, because she had unfinished business. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Family Studies from BYU at the age of 60. And she got straight A’s.

Kay loved her Savior and was known to spend a lot of time petitioning Him on behalf of her vast posterity. She tried to repay Him by serving wherever and whenever she was called. During one year in Lubbock, Texas, she served as Relief Society president (in addition to three other callings) while wrangling seven kids-all alone because Norman was deployed in Vietnam.

Kay is survived by children Kim Skinner (Charlie), Jon (Susan), Robin Knudsen (Wayne), Paul (Debra), Eric (Maylene), and Norman (Allyson); her sister Maxine McLean; 29 grandchildren and too many great grandchildren to bother counting. She was welcomed home by her husband Norman, her son Robert (Elizabeth), her parents, and her sister Doreen.

A service honoring Kay will be held Saturday, June 12th at 11 a.m. at the chapel on 3050 N. Mojave Lane, Provo, UT, 84604. There will be a viewing at the church from 9:30-10:45 a.m. prior to services. The funeral service will also be available via Zoom streaming at https://zoom.us/j/91424912268. Interment will be at Eastlawn Memorial Hills in Provo. Condolences may be expressed at www.bergmortuary.com.

Special thanks to Kay’s caregiver Ave for her love, attentiveness, and tireless service, and to Hearts for Hospice. And thanks Mom, for smiling your way through a long, difficult journey.