Betty Anna Perry

Betty Anna Davidson Perry passed away peacefully in Provo, Utah on May 8, 2025 at the age of 96, surrounded by her loved ones. She was born in her grandmother’s stone cottage in Logan, Utah on July 2, 1928 and was a descendant of Utah pioneers.

Betty was an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints throughout her life. She met the love of her life and future husband, Robert William Perry Jr., in Los Angeles, California, after WWII. Bob had served in the Navy on a PT Boat in the Pacific during the war. They were married August 8, 1953, and later sealed as a family in the Los Angeles Temple on March 11, 1959.

That spring the family embarked on an adventure that would shape the rest of their lives—they drove over 3500 miles with all their worldly possessions to Fairbanks, Alaska, where Bob had accepted a position as pressman at the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner after working as a pressman for the Los Angeles Times.

Bob and Betty were both children during the Great Depression. Like most of those who lived through the Depression, they practiced thrift and resourcefulness at home. Betty found immense satisfaction in being self-reliant and, through her example, teaching her children to work hard, always do their best, and be reliable. She and Bob put in many long hours together over the years building and renovating their various homes and many other DIY projects.

Betty and Bob loved to travel and had the opportunity to see many parts of the world, often combining their travel with family history research in areas from which their ancestors came. After Bob’s retirement, Bob and Betty moved to Sun City, Arizona, where Bob passed away in 2004. Betty eventually moved to Provo, Utah to be closer to her family.

Betty’s life was a tapestry of passions, hobbies, and interests. She is remembered for her love of genealogy in which she spent over 60 years researching her family history and helping others do the same. She was a superb homemaker. She enjoyed cooking, gardening, food preservation, sewing, knitting, crocheting and quilting, and passed many of those interests on to her children. During her later years Betty kept active crocheting hundreds of potholders and giving them as gifts to friends and family.

Betty was predeceased by her husband, Robert William Perry Jr., her parents, Mary Griffin Malmberg and Robert Harley Davidson, brothers Donald and Robert Davidson, son-in-law Francis Archibald, grandchildren Celeste, Ryan and Ben Brewster, great granddaughter Clare Brewster. She is survived by her loving family, including her children, Wesley Craig Perry (Kristine), Ernest Clay Perry (DeAnna), Monica Gale Brewster (Dan), Lisa Karen Archibald, Matthew Robert Perry (Andrea), and Mark William Perry, 22 grandchildren, and 50 great grandchildren.

Betty will be laid to rest in the Clarkston, Utah Cemetery next to her beloved husband Bob and many other family members.