December 12, 1935 — June 8, 2020
AnnaLou Smith Hutchings Robertson, 84, passed away on June 8, 2020, in St. George, Utah.
AnnaLou was born Dec. 12, 1935, in Santaquin, Utah, to William Clifford Smith and Olive Ethel Taft Smith who were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. She is the 7th of 9 children born to this hard-working, honest, responsible and practical couple.
AnnaLou married Carlos Garth Hutchings Jan. 3, 1953, in Santaquin, Utah. Soon after the marriage, they moved to northern California, where all four of their children were born. In 1970, Carl and AnnaLou decided to move back home and settled in Loa, Utah where they purchased Loa Builders Supply.
Though she had always loved being a homemaker, AnnaLou knew she had more to offer, and she stepped bravely into the working world at Loa Elementary in the lunchroom. She advanced into the special education department, where she developed a deep love and concern for the students. Because of her great capacity for caring, her intelligence and aptitude, she was encouraged to earn her bachelor’s degree/teaching certificate, which she did at SUSC (now SUU) in the mid-1990s. She enjoyed teaching, and her students loved her cheery attitude and fun spirit. The concept of stick-to-itiveness could have come about based on AnnaLou’s firm resolve to follow the course, despite twists and turns. But it fails to describe her cheery attitude while doing so!
AnnaLou loved to cook, tend her garden, was an avid singer, and always made time for her grandchildren. She taught us all by example to love life, be curious, and look on the bright side of things. She and Carl were divorced in 1997. He passed away in May 2013 from injuries sustained in an automobile accident.
AnnaLou met Russ Robertson in St. George, Utah. They were married July 11, 1998, and have resided in the area since then. Because of Russ’s love of outdoor activities, AnnaLou began participating in local hikes, biking and many other adventures. They traveled together extensively and served an 18-month mission to Ireland for their beloved LDS church in August of 2011. They maintained their healthy lifestyle until her health prevented it, just one short month ago.
The focus of AnnaLou’s life has always been her family and home. She lived life on her own terms, as a strong, stoic woman, and died the same way. She had bravely and optimistically dealt with vascular dementia for 11 years and passed away peacefully due to complications from colon cancer.
AnnaLou is survived by husband: Russell Clark Robertson; children: Virginia Hutchings; Curtis Lake (Cheryl) Hutchings; and Mathew Birgus (Stacey) Hutchings. Thirteen grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren. AnnaLou also loved, and enjoyed, Russ’s children: Mark (Theresa) Robertson; Gaile (Kevin) Halladay; Meg (Mark, deceased) Shepherd; Claire (Jeff) Chance; Amy (Kent) Dayton, as well as his 21 grandchildren and 46 great-grandchildren. Siblings: Leo Clifford (Bonnie) Smith; Jaye Brigham (Marguerite) Smith; and Diane Olive (Gene) Cales.
She is preceded in death by her firstborn son, Steven C (Zahandra) Hutchings, 2015; siblings: Nadine (baby), 1934; Afton Taft Smith, 2005; Geneve Taft Cornell, 2010; Lasca Taft Smith Keele, 2014; Audra Taft Smith Hendrickson, 2019.
The family is very grateful for the warm and loving assistance of Amy Moak, who provided excellent personal care to both Mom and Russ for the last two and a half years. They would also like to thank Amy and Paula at Encompass Hospice for their professional, high quality, and kind care during the last two weeks of AnnaLou’s amazing life.
We love and miss you, Mom and Grandma
Viewings will be held at the mortuary from 6-8 p.m. on Wednesday and 8:30-9:30 a.m. on Thursday. The funeral will be held Thursday, June 11 at 10 a.m. at Spilsbury Mortuary, 110 S. Bluff St. in St. George, Utah. The graveside service will be held Saturday, June 13 at noon at the Spanish Fork Cemetery, 420 S. 400 East.
To watch a webcast of the service (live or up to 90 days after the service) go to webcast.funeralrecording.com. Type in the event number 30931 and password ALR2020.
Friends and family are invited to sign AnnaLou Smith Robertson’s online guest book at www.spilsburymortuary.com