- Date Of Birth: July 16, 1930
- Date Of Death: December 20, 2016
- State: Utah
Mary Lou Garrett Phippen
July 16, 1930 – December 20, 2016
With a kind of sad serenity, we say so long to Mary Lou Garrett Phippen, 86, our mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, aunt and friend. Known affectionately as Gigi by her grandchildren, Mary Lou was reunited with her beloved husband, Arthur, when she passed away peacefully, December 20, 2016.
She was born on July 16, 1930, in Tucson, Arizona, to John William Garrett and Johnny Opal Buchanan Garrett Pecina, and was the third of five children, Jack, Jewel, Mary Lou, David, and Roy.
Mary Lou was a life-long member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and even attended high school in the Church colonies in Colonia Juarez, Mexico, where she truly gained her testimony.
At 17, she moved to Los Angeles, California, and rented a room from an older LDS couple, who turned out to be the parents of her soon-to-be husband, Art Phippen. On their first official date, they eloped to Las Vegas and were married by a drunken preacher who told them he also handled divorces. Despite this off-the-wall beginning, they were married one year later on May 3, 1949, in the Mesa, Arizona Temple.
All six of their children were born in California, but eventually the family settled in Brigham City, Utah. Mary Lou was a big Jazz basketball fan and has a legacy of crazy experiences with the team. These include being selected as a Jazz super fan, trying to sneak into their locker room with the excuse that she was Karl Malone’s mother, and auditioning with her friend, Jane Major, when they were in their 60s, for the Jazz dancers. They made the first cut. Mary Lou retired from the Ogden Standard Examiner after working there more than 20 years.
Mary Lou was preceded in death by her parents, siblings, and husband, and is survived by her children, Michael Phippen, Susan (Lynn) Stewart, Nancy (Raymond) Browne, Robert
(LuAnn) Phippen, Janet (Dave) Licklighter, and Julie (Mike) Goins. She and Art were also blessed with 18 grandchildren and 27 great grandchildren.
