Geri Harding

    Geri Nielsen Harding has moved on. On January 28, 2023, at the tender age of 92, she finally gets to see what the other side is like. We think she was ready for heaven, but still wonder a bit if heaven was ready for her. We’re confident she is doing just fine. No doubt she is at this very moment reminiscing with family and friends about the adventures of her life. With a twinkle in her eye and a hearty laugh, she never let the truth get in the way of a good story.
    Geri was born on May 11, 1930, in Hyrum, Utah, to Ezra Elroy and Lilli Arvilla Harris Nielsen. She grew up surrounded by many good friends and family. In fact, she loved her family so much she married her cousin, LeGrande Harding, in 1949. Without delay, four abnormally bright children were born: Howard, Mary, John, and Kim.
    In 1965, after living in California and Japan, Geri and her family put down permanent roots on a little farm just outside of Myton, Utah, in the wonderful Uintah Basin.
    She was a rural girl at heart and loved the farm and the animals. She enjoyed working in her yard and developed the unique ability to beautify it with flowers she “borrowed” from the cemetery.
    If Geri was anything she was creative. Over the years she refined her ability to paint and was known for her many beautiful works of art. While working as the secretary of the Myton Elementary School, she fell in love with the students at the nearby Con Amore special education school. She became their art teacher and published a book displaying their creations.
    An interesting set of circumstances provided Geri with a large number of siblings, as well as many nieces and nephews. With no exaggeration, Aunt Geri was a celebrity among them. She was a continuous source of laughter, encouragement, guidance, and occasionally, a bank.
    Most of all Geri loved her children and grandchildren. Not long after her last child left home she took in four of her grandchildren, Tony, Angie, Amanda, and Andee. She may have loved them more than her own four children.
    She considered it a great blessing to live close to Kim and Lunnetta and their children, Shaunna, Krista, Chet, Megan, and Stacie. There was never a group of kids that loved a grandma more.
    In all, Geri’s four children provided her with 19 grandchildren. Each one was uniquely touched by her. They have now given her 57 great grandchildren.
    Geri loved life, she loved people, and we loved her.
    Following a family gathering on January 31, 2023, Geri was interred in the Myton Cemetery next to her husband of 62 years, under the direction of the Hullinger Mortuary.