Venice Mecham

Her service will be live-streamed and can be viewed HERE.

Venice Nielson Mecham, age 92, our dear mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, aunt, and friend passed away on April 7, 2022 at 10:00 p.m. in her Spring Garden care facility located in Mapleton, Utah.     She was attended by some of her beloved family.  Her passing was due to age-related weaknesses.  
    Venice was born in Vernal, Utah on September 9, 1929 to Otto William and Lydia Josephine Green Nielson; she was the sixth (or middle child) of eleven children.  She shared many fond memories of working and playing along the Green River during her growing-up years.  In winter, they would cut large chunks of ice from the river for summer use to keep food cool in their ice box.  They worked at harvesting hay and feeding the workers who came to help.  Venice regularly assisted her mother, cooking on a cast-iron stove that kept water hot and ready for use.  It was fueled by wood or coal.  
    She was a hard-worker, always keeping her home neat and tidy and caring for her family.  They enjoyed her gift for cooking and making delicious meals from little to nothing.  Her banana nut and chocolate cakes were favorites along with potato salad and monkey bread.  She was a gifted homemaker.   
    Venice married Donald H Mecham on May 31, 1946.  September 10, 1981 was a long awaited day for Venice.  She and Don were sealed forever along with their children in the Provo, Utah temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  They loved returning to the temple often after their first visit. Don passed away on September 12, 1999.  
     Venice and Don loved people and being together with friends or family.  They enjoyed packing horses into the high Uintahs with friends for a week or two at a time where they fished and enjoyed the outdoors.  She was an avid Jazz fan for years and seldom missed a game when John Stockton and Karl Malone were playing.  She thoroughly enjoyed a game of SkipBo in her later years, but Rook was probably the game of choice earlier with Don (who "never" cheated) along with family members and friends.  
      They became extremely active and devoted to the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Venice served in many callings as a teacher, compassionate service leader, Primary President and visiting teacher.  She loved fulfilling her callings and was always very dependable.  
    Venice struggled with bipolar disorder and suffered extreme emotional highs and lows throughout most of her life.  She experienced several nervous break downs that required hospitalization for extended periods of time.  
    She is survived by her five children:  Donald Lee “Dusty” (Rita) Mecham; Meda (John Paul) Murphy; Darrell Otto (Ann) Mecham; Vicky (Rex) Krugman; and Dennie Kade (Tammie) Mecham. 
    She was preceded in death by her husband Donald H. Mecham, ten of her siblings, one son-in-law Don Merrill Duncan and two grandsons: David B. Mecham, Shawn Merrill Duncan, and a great-granddaughter, Whitney Gentry Maurer.  
     Funeral services will be held on Friday, April 15, 2022, at 11:00 a.m. at the Neola Chapel of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.   There will be a viewing on Thursday from 6-8 p.m. at the Hullinger Mortuary and from 10-10:45 a.m. Friday at the church.
    Burial will be in the Neola Cemetery