Coleene Coleman Neerings

Coleene Coleman Neerings passed away March 11, 2023, and was welcomed into the loving arms of her Heavenly Father. She was born January 21, 1938, to William Raymond and Leta Nielsen Coleman in Logan, Utah. Coleene loved life and the people in her life. She was a friend to everyone she met and was “a people person”; because she used to say that she never met a person she didn’t like.

The family moved to Salt Lake City in 1949 and Coleene quickly adapted to her new situation. She loved her new home and quickly made many friends. It was while she was a senior at East High school that she went on a blind date and met LeGrand S. Neerings who was her best friend’s date. They only had eyes for each other and within five months’ time, they were married and sealed in the Salt Lake LDS Temple on January 27, 1956. Their life together was a fairy tale because LeGrand was “the love of her life”.

She was a wonderful homemaker and felt a great deal of satisfaction in making her home beautiful. She loved to establish family traditions for her family. She was a very good cook, and the family will never forget her “Spudnuts” and chili at Halloween and the family dipping chocolates together at Christmas. She often said, “Heaven won’t be Heaven, if chocolate isn’t there.” She was always sharing her baked items with others and her sons helped her deliver her treats. Serving others was always important to her and she has instilled this in her sons and daughter. She always kept track of her family history and activities in her personal journals. Her family and her church were the most important things in her life.

Coleene was a loving mother and grandmother to her family. She was always trying to get the family together for special events. Thanksgiving, Christmas, Pizza Parties on the back patio, a “Dagwood’s Super Supper” and many fun Halloween costume parties and spook alleys were put together by Coleene for her family. The favorite family vacations, however, were Disneyland and boating together at Lake Powell. She was an avid gardener, and her hobby was photography. Often her friends would call to tell her they had seen her pictures on the TV weather news. With an ever-positive attitude, her favorite saying to her family was, “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all”.

In her later life, after her youngest children were grown, Coleene began working as a travel agent for Western Travel in 1985 and this began many years of traveling the world for LeGrand and Coleene. They visited 37 countries before and after Coleene retired in 1996.

Coleene was a devoted member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and served in many callings including as a Stake Relief Society Counselor and many teaching positions in the Sunday School, Primary, Young Women’s and Relief Society. The highlight of her life was when she and LeGrand served a senior couple mission in Nauvoo, IL in 1995 and 1996. She loved being a tour guide in the historical sites, while LeGrand did plumbing and heating and everything else he was asked to do. Following their mission in 1998, Coleene and LeGrand moved to the Padre Lakes community in Ivins, Utah to retire in a warmer climate. Following her husband’s death, she served an LDS Church Service mission, partnered with the Alzheimer’s Association. In 2009, she was given her greatest honor, when the Alzheimer’s Association awarded her the “2009 Caregiver of the Year Award”. She was very humbled and honored by this recognition. Coleene met F. Dale Smart who was also an Alzheimer’s Caregiver of the Year award winner in 2011. They dated for a couple of months and then decided to get married in January of 2014. Dale introduced Coleene to the world of golf and she enjoyed playing the game until she couldn’t physically play it any more. She then watched it on TV. Dale passed away in 2022.

She dearly loved serving her friends and family and they loved her in return. She will be greatly missed by everyone and especially her 48 grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Coleene is survived by her five sons: Grant (Lorri) Neerings, Darren (Laura) Neerings, Cal (Suzi) Neerings, Matt (Heather) Neerings, Wyatt (Kim) Neerings, 21 grandchildren and 27 great grandchildren.

Coleene was preceded in death by her husband, LeGrand Neerings, her second husband, Dale Smart, her daughter Colette, her two grandsons Collin Stevenson and Bradin Horrocks, her parents William Raymond and Leta Nielsen Coleman, and her siblings, Jay Allen, Shirlee Allen Meacham, and Bob (Mary) Coleman.

A viewing will be held Saturday, March 18, 2023 from 11:00 am until 12:00 pm, followed by a memorial service at 12:00 pm at the Spilsbury Mortuary chapel located at 110 S Bluff Street, St. George, Utah 84770.

Family and friends who are unable to attend are invited to view the memorial service online by clicking on the link below.

Video on Demand

Interment will be in the Santa Clara Historical Cemetery in Santa Clara, Utah.

The family wishes to express their appreciation for the compassionate care rendered to Coleene by the compassionate staff at The Retreat at Sunriver and Renew Hospice.

Arrangements are made under the direction of Spilsbury Mortuary 110 S Bluff Street, St. George, Utah. 435-673-2454. Family and friends are invited to share condolences on Coleene’s online guest book at www.spilsburymortuary.com