Gay Nelda Stott

Gay Nelda Metcalf Owens Young Stott, 77, former resident of Leslie and Goshen, passed away peacefully on Sunday, February 3, 2013 at the Gables of Shelley.  She will be deeply missed by her family and friends.

The daughter of Jesse Earl and Alice Freeman Metcalf, and the youngest of seven children, she was born in Idaho Falls on May 10, 1935 and raised in Ucon and Leslie, attending Mackay High School.   She married Leonard Afton Owens on November 7, 1951 in the Salt Lake City LDS temple, and resided in Darlington and Salmon before moving to Escalon, CA. After their divorce in 1973, Gay moved to Rexburg where she worked as a bank teller and attended classes toward a nursing degree.   She married William Young on July 17, 1974 and moved to Goshen.  After William’s death in 1999, Gay married Arvin Stott on September 2, 2003.  Health challenges precipitated their move to the Gables of Shelley in February 2012.

Gay was a lifelong member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, serving in many church callings, including primary president and counselor in the Relief Society presidency. She loved family history and served as an ordinance worker in the Idaho Falls Temple, in addition to her work at the Family History Center. She had a passion for music and was blessed with a wonderful soprano voice, frequently performing in church choirs and as a soloist, and also played the piano beautifully. An expert seamstress, she sewed entire wardrobes of clothes and crocheted beautiful afghans for her family. Her baking skills were legendary, with her French bread and cinnamon rolls being in particular demand. She worked for many years at Hard Times 2 in Shelley to put her son John through a mission. She was, most of all, a loving wife and devoted mother.

Gay’s survivors include her children Christine Metcalf Owens of Petaluma, CA; Dan (Cindy) Owens of Lynnwood, WA; Carrie (Eric) Hutchman of Beaverton, OR; David (Nadine) Owens of Riverbank, CA; Diane (Mike) Lewis of Idaho Falls; Deborah (Richard) Wernette of Walla Walla, WA; John (Alicia) Young of St. Augustine, FL.  Four stepchildren: David (Lette) Young of Idaho Falls; Vicki (Robert) McLellan of Olympia, WA; Tony (Krishyon) Young of Pembroke, MA; and Terri Rhoades of Rigby, as well as brothers Lynn Metcalf of Leslie and Dale Metcalf of Charlottesville, VA.  She had 33 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren.

Gay was preceded in death by her daughter, Cathleen Gay Boland, her husband Arvin Stott, her parents, brother Marvin Metcalf, and sisters Verna Knowlton and Charmaine Anderson.

Funeral services will be held at 11am on Wednesday, February 6, 2013 at the Goshen LDS church with interment at the Goshen Cemetery.  Viewings will be held Tuesday, February 5 from 6-8pm at Nalder’s in Shelley and from 9:30-10:30 at the church before the service.

Special thanks to the Gables of Shelley and Hands of Hope Hospice for their tender and loving care of Gay in her final months of life.