Eva Ann Whitt

Eva Ann Decker Whitt, 87, of Snowflake, Arizona passed away in Highland, Utah on October 31, 2024 from complications of Alzheimer's disease.

Born on May 18, 1937, she was the daughter of Edwin Zechariah Decker and Sarah Elizabeth Rogers Decker. Eva Ann graduated from Snowflake Union High School in 1954 and attended Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. She then graduated from Northern Virginia Community College, earning a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, cum laude, in 1987. She became a Registered Nurse at age 50.

During the summer of 1954, Eva Ann attended a church dance at the Main Street Chapel in Snowflake. She soon felt a gentle tap on her shoulder, accompanied by a deep Texan drawl asking, “Would you care to dance, Ma’am?” This dance led to a lifelong love affair. Eva Ann married Kenneth Wayne Whitt on June 6, 1957 in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ Mesa Arizona Temple. 

By example, Eva Ann taught her six children kindness, thrift, and generosity. If there were an overripe plum in the kitchen, Eva Ann would make a delicious cobbler for a sick neighbor by sundown. She cut her family’s hair and sewed their clothes. Beds were covered with warm, finely stitched quilts, and her meals boasted the prowess of her gardening skills. She canned peaches to eat in the winter, and knitted or crocheted while watching college basketball games. Ever industrious, Eva Ann was always in motion: baking bread, ironing starched shirts, cooling holiday candy, practicing yoga, putting up wallpaper, reading her scriptures, helping a child—and still found time to laugh and sing. She hosted delightful luncheons and elegant dinner parties for her innumerable friends and looked effortlessly beautiful. She was always ready to lend an ear to an aching heart. 

She especially loved her 19 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren, and found ways to create special memories for them and with them, from flying kites in the Arizona sky to eating ice cream for breakfast.

She loved to learn new things and travel abroad. Before traveling to Italy with her friends, Eva Ann read stacks of art books and enrolled in an art class to fully appreciate the experience. She strongly believed that “self-effort educates” and delighted in having her home filled with the best books. 

Eva Ann was a stalwart member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints her entire life and served four missions: Washington, D.C. South (1995-1998), San Francisco (2004-2005), Temple Square in Salt Lake City (2006), and the Nauvoo Temple (2013). She especially loved working in the temple where she provided decades of faithful service to those on both sides of the veil. She was an effective teacher, an accomplished pianist, a devoted visiting teacher, and a Christlike sister to all, regardless of people’s station in life.

Remaining to cherish Eva Ann’s memory are her husband, Kenneth Wayne Whitt; children, Stephen Roy Whitt (Karen), Kathryn Whitt Kaczorowski (Lance), Samuel Wayne Whitt (Tracy), Deidra Whitt Lovegren (Jim), and Scott Nicholas Whitt (Karen); and her brothers, Orville Westover Decker and Amos Lowell Decker.

Preceding Eva Ann in death are her parents, Edwin and Sarah, and siblings: Venola Decker Lancaster, Rogers Clair Decker, and Edwin Herbst Decker. Awaiting Eva Ann in our heavenly home is her oldest daughter, Elizabeth Ann Whitt Thomas, whose untimely death on March 27, 2006 brought great sadness and whose reunion will bring great joy. 

A viewing will be held Friday, November 15, 2024 from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at Owens Livingston Mortuary (84 West 19th South Street) in Snowflake, Arizona. On Saturday, November 16, the memorial service will be held at 10:00 a.m. with a viewing prior to the service at 9:00 a.m. at the Main Street Chapel (48 Main Street) in Snowflake. Interment will be at the R.V. "Mike" Ramsay Memorial Cemetery in Snowflake following the service.

To leave condolences, visit www.legacyfunerals.com