Janice Abbott

Janice Hilton Abbott, 90, passed away December 3, 2019 in Cedar Hills, Utah.  She was born in 1928 in Salt Lake City, Utah to Clement Hilton and Evelyn Schank Hilton and grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico and Denver, Colorado.  She married Bob Walter Abbott in 1948 in the Salt Lake Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Her often-stated wish over the last years of her life was simply to be with Bob again.

Janice studied English literature for two years at Brigham Young University and after Bob’s early death returned to BYU for a degree in elementary education. She taught at Highland Elementary School for sixteen years before retiring.

Janice and Bob had eight children, six of whom survive them: Scott (Lyn) Abbott, Jill (Mike) Capps, Carol (Luther) Gilstrap, Christy (Tony) Perkins, Paul Abbott, Jeff (Carol) Abbott, 30 grandchildren, and 39 great grandchildren.  She is preceded in death by Bob and 2 of their children: John Abbott and Lynn Abbott.

Janice was an avid reader and lifelong learner.  She enjoyed gardening, cooking, singing, and camping. She loved to travel, trips that took her to Pakistan, Egypt, Palestine, Israel, Jordan, Greece, Switzerland, Germany, New Zealand, Australia, Fiji, Holland, Russia, Mexico, South Korea, Canada, Great Britain, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and China.

Frugality learned growing up during the Great Depression served Janice well as she raised a large family on a junior high school teacher’s salary. Food storage was a major project, and she left a basement stuffed with her own canned fruit and vegetables and various store-bought commodities (sell-by dates meant nothing to her). Her children were profoundly grateful to find a gallon of “Virgin Norwegian Cod Liver Oil” purchased in 1958 in Idaho still unopened in her crawl space.

Religion played a major role in Janice’s life. Her scriptures were well worn and her library of LDS books was extensive. She taught Primary and Gospel Doctrine classes, led a ward choir, was an devoted genealogist, served as an ordinance worker in the Mount Timpanogos Temple for eleven years, and was a missionary in the Canada Vancouver Mission.

Funeral services will be held Friday, December 6, 2019 at 11:00 am in the 20th Ward Chapel, 825 East 500 North, American Fork.  A viewing will be held from 10:00 to 10:45 that same morning. Burial will be in the American Fork Cemetery.  Please share a memory at andersonmortury.com.