- Date Of Birth: January 8, 1933
- Date Of Death: July 25, 2020
- State: Utah
St. George, Utah – Jayne Vanice Vickers Arellano, 87, passed away quietly on the afternoon of July 25, 2020 at Southgate Senior Living, St. George, Utah of causes incident to age. She was born Jan. 8, 1933 in Logan, Utah to Dr. Wallace Joseph and Eva Pearl Sperry Vickers, both natives of Nephi, Utah. She married Elias “Al” Lawrence Arellano on June 6, 1973. This marriage was solemnized in the Salt Lake Temple in 1974.
Al’s first wife, Connie Garcia Estudillo, died of an illness in 1968 and he had no intentions of remarrying – until he met Jayne. Both he and Jayne loved to travel. They met at the Los Angeles Airport with a group touring Asia. Their official “first date” was to a snake farm in Bangkok, Thailand. Jayne traveled around the world at least 3 times and loved visiting new places, but her favorite trip was the one on which she met Al. They carried on a remote romance as Al lived in California and Jayne in Ogden. Unbeknownst to Jayne, Al had been taking the missionary lessons and joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints the month after their marriage.
Education and teaching were a couple of Jayne’s passions. In 1955 she graduated from Utah State Agricultural College (now Utah State University) with a degree in English and a strong background in French. While there she was editor of the USU literary magazine, Scribble. She took a job as the librarian for the Childrens’ Library in Sugarhouse, Utah then left to become a high school librarian in Howell, Michigan. The Weber Board of Education chose her to teach French and be the Librarian at Wahlquist Junior High in Ogden, Utah; she spent the rest of her career there.
Jayne was very friendly and outgoing and loved to be with people. At Wahlquist she forged many close friendships with members of the faculty and with her students – and stayed in touch for years.
Jayne was active in the Church all her life and served in many positions, particularly those involving youth, teaching, and library work. She was a dedicated family historian and enjoyed attending the temple with Al. After Al’s passing in 2002, Jayne served for 12 months as a missionary in the West Virginia Charleston Mission, beginning December 2005.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Al; her sisters Verdena Vickers Purcell and Ruth Vickers Clayton; and by her brothers, Vallon Sperry Vickers and Gilbert Wallace Vickers, who died as a baby. She is survived by several generations of nieces and nephews who refer to her fondly as Aunt Jayne.
