The Obituary of Mrs. Merle (Mortensen) Vaughan Allen by Her Only Child, William Mortensen Vaughan

Merle at the Maddox Ranch House circa 2010

Merle Allen died at 8:25 p.m., Mountain Daylight Time, on Saturday, May 10, 2025. She was 91 years old at the time of her death.

She had complained of a toothache and had stopped eating for several weeks before her death.

Her funeral took place at the site of her grave, in the Brigham City Cemetery, in the town of her birth, Brigham City, Box Elder County, Utah.

Merle outlived her parents, Christian Hyrum Mortensen and Violet Stella Smith; both of her half-siblings, Mrs. Viola Victoria (Stanfield) Hurley, and John Harold "Johnnie Boy" Lockwood; and all ten of her "three quarter" siblings, Mrs. Amelia LaBlanche "Blanche" (Mortensen) Pulsipher Nelson, infant Loyal Roland Mortensen, Mrs. Sylvia LaVon (Mortensen) Montgomery, Hyrum Smith "Smith" Mortensen, Mrs. Clara Leora (Mortensen) Murray, Miss Hulda Josephine Mortensen, Milton Parker Mortensen, Roland Niels "Banana Boy" Mortensen, Maynard Lamar Mortensen, and infant Marian Christena Mortensen. Merle also outlived two of her favorite nieces and their husbands: Mrs. Ruth (Pulsipher) Nelson and Orion Leroy "Mick" Nelson, Sr. (WWII Veteran, P.O.W./M.I.A., Purple Heart Recipient); and Mrs. Sylvia "Sylvie" (Pulsipher) Ward Knight, Roy Nathaniel Ward, and William Floyd Knight (a "real cowboy" who did not cuss, use tobacco products, or consume alcohol). Furthermore, Merle outlived both of her husbands, William Knowlton "Bill" Vaughan and Ralph Lavene Allen, Sr., as well as her stepson, Ralph Lavene Allen, Jr. Merle also outlived perhaps her most famous first cousin, Mrs. Donna Smith Packer, two of her three brothers, and Donna's husband and Merle's high school mentor, Boyd Kenneth Packer.

Merle is survived by her and Bill's only child, William Mortensen "Willie" Vaughan, and his wife, Libertad Green. (Merle had no grandchildren.) Merle is also survived by her favorite niece, Mrs. Marian (Pulsipher) Hope, and her favorite nephew, Ronald Smith Mortensen and his wife Linda (Palmer) Mortensen. Merle is also survived by the sole surviving sibling of Donna Smith Packer, Glenn Alvin Smith, and his wife, Marilyn (Fawson) Smith. Merle was also survived by numerous grand- and great-grandnieces and nephews, including two great-great-grandchildren of Marian Hope.

Although Merle's second husband had provided a burial plot and tombstone for Merle in Ogden, Utah, Marian, Merle's de facto mother since she was five years old and Merle was three, buried Merle among the remains of many of their relatives, including Pony Express Rider Erastus Julius Smith and Mormon Polygamist Morten Peter Mortensen, as well as other L.D.S. Utah Pioneers.

 Obituary by William Mortensen Vaughan