Leona Pearl Huish Stott
24 November 1920 -- 5 June 2019
After journeying through this life for 98.5 years, my mother-in-law, Pearl, was called home today. As indicated in the title of this post, she was a woman of faith, a woman of courage, and a woman of strength.
Life wasn't always easy for Pearl. As a child, her family struggled through and survived the great depression. Being the oldest child in her family, she often received the task of caring for her younger siblings. This prepared her for becoming a mother herself.
Before her marriage to Edgar Keith Stott, she served a mission in California. Her mission gave her many opportunities to serve, to testify of Christ, and to grow as an individual. She always spoke fondly of her mission.
After serving as a secretary to top generals in the army in Washington, D.C. and three years of marriage and the birth of their first child, Keith Jr., Keith temporarily left the family to serve a 30 month mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Argentina. Because of WWII in which he served in the army, he couldn't serve a mission at the appointed age of 21 for boys back then. Saying goodbye was difficult, but her faith carried her through. A year into Keith's mission, Pearl received her own mission call to join her husband in Argentina. The journey there was long and not without problems, but eventually she and and Keith Jr. were reunited with Keith in Argentina.
Soon, they found out that Pearl was expecting another baby. Instead of having the baby in Argentina, they decided that Pearl and Keith, Jr. should return home for the birth. This turned out to be a little girl they named Carol. She was born on July 13th, 1948, but all was not well. She was born with a heart condition and only lived about one day. What a heartbreak this was for the couple living over 5,000 miles apart. Keith never got to see or hold his little daughter and Carol turned out to be their only daughter. Five more sons were eventually added to the family. Kevin, Alan, Brian, Steven, and Galen.
After their children were raised, Keith and Pearl found themselves serving in the Chile Osorno Mission where Keith had been called to be the mission president. They served there for three years. Their Spanish speaking abilities came in very handy and were greatly improved upon.
About 8 years later, Keith was called to be the President of the Missionary Training Center in Guatemala where they served for two years. Keith and Pearl collectively served 7 missions - three of which were served together.
It has been 16 long, lonely years for Pearl since Keith's passing on April 23, 2003. I'm sure there was a happy reunion as Pearl slipped through the veil and into the arms of her loving husband. Hopefully, her son Brian was there to greet her as well. He passed away 5 months prior to his father on November 27, 2002. Her daughter-in-law, Jayne, passed away just 5 months ago on December 22, 2018.
Pearl has been a wonderful mother-in-law to me and to the rest of her daughters-in-law. I have always admired her for her love, her wit, her testimony, her talents, and her missionary spirit, as well as her devotion to God, husband, family, and Church. She was a wonderful mother to her six sons and grandmother to her twenty grandchildren who also love and adore her.
Although we will miss her greatly, because of the Plan of Salvation, we know that her spirit lives on and that she is now in a much better place. We are happy that she will no longer be confined to her wheelchair and she is free from all the pain and worries of this life.
Until we meet again, Pearl. You are truly loved!
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