Edythe Tuttle Smit

Edythe Tuttle Smit

Edythe Tuttle Smit of Albuquerque, New Mexico, passed away peacefully on July 15, 2026, in Draper, Utah, at the age of 93. She was one week shy of her 94th birthday.

Edythe was born in Manti, Utah, on July 22, 1932, to Eugene and Lillie Tuttle. She was the third child in a family of five children. A child of the Great Depression, she developed a work ethic that stayed with her throughout her life and taught her to cherish all that she had.

She often spoke of her childhood in the central Utah town of Manti. Although life was hard, she felt those years shaped her in many positive ways. She often recalled working on the family farm with her father and walking to and from school each day. The friendships she formed with her elementary school classmates lasted her entire life. This group of “Manti girls” last gathered for lunch in 2022, some 80 years after they first walked together to church and school on the dusty streets of Manti.

Edythe graduated from Manti High School in 1950 and immediately found work sewing clothing in a local factory. She honed her skills and became an excellent seamstress. She used those talents throughout her life, sewing clothing for her family and later creating handmade dolls and elaborate Christmas Santas with extravagant costumes for her family to enjoy.

Edythe attended BYU for a couple of years, where she met her future husband. He was a handsome member of the BYU Cougar football team, and she was a beautiful waitress at the local soda shop. They married after Walter (“Smitty”) graduated from BYU and, over the next three and a half years, welcomed four children born in three different states as the young couple moved frequently for Smitty’s engineering jobs.

In 1962, the family moved from Washington State to Elk River, Minnesota, where they first rented a house on the banks of the Mississippi River, directly across the river from the power plant where Smitty worked.

Edythe was devoted to her family and kept her children engaged with outdoor activities, books, piano lessons, and family trips. Television viewing was always limited to less than one hour per day.

While still in their 30s, Edythe and Smitty embarked on an enormous family project: building their dream home on a lake in Elk River. Together they designed the house and—with some help from the children—cut, nailed, and built every part of it themselves, all while working full-time jobs. Although she missed the Wasatch Mountains of her youth and dreaded Minnesota’s cold winters, she loved her home on the lake.

Edythe attended beauty school in Minneapolis and earned her hairdresser’s license. After working in a salon for about a year, she decided to strike out on her own and opened a hair salon on Main Street in Elk River. She worked tirelessly, often 10–12 hours on busy days, helping the ladies of the town look their best.

In 1980, after the children left for college and following 20 years in Minnesota, Smitty accepted a position at a new power plant near Albuquerque, New Mexico. Rather than continue her salon business in New Mexico, Edythe turned her attention to investing in and managing rental properties, something they had begun in Minnesota. Once again, her remarkable work ethic led to great success.

Together, Edythe and Smitty worked tirelessly as partners on their rental properties. Edythe handled management, cleaning, and tile work, while Smitty took care of plumbing, electrical work, and construction repairs—all while continuing to work full time at the power plant. After Smitty passed away in 2011, she stubbornly carried on the business well into her 80s, to the amazement and admiration of her family. Even the employees at her local Home Depot, who saw her almost daily, called her “the hardest-working woman they know.”

Throughout her life, she also enjoyed hobbies and interests that fed her creative spirit. Her sewing skills enabled her to make everything from Christmas pajamas and school clothes to her daughters’ wedding dresses. Christmastime was her passion. She hand-painted dozens of ceramic nativity sets and Victorian Christmas villages. She loved growing things, planting fruit trees at every home where she lived and preserving the harvest by canning dozens of jars of fruit. Her children grew up with a pantry full of homemade canned peaches, cherries, and raspberry jam.

Edythe was a devoted member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She was proud of her Mormon pioneer heritage. Her great-grandfather crossed the plains and was among the early settlers of Manti, Utah. She was a beloved Sunday School teacher, a dedicated Church leader, and a faithful advocate of her beliefs. In her later years, she volunteered at the Albuquerque Temple. She believed in serving others and always reached out to those she felt could use a helping hand.

And she had a sweet tooth for cookies and Hershey’s Kisses. We will miss her deeply.

Edythe was preceded in death by her husband, Walter (“Smitty”) Smit; her parents; her sisters, Marjorie (Con) Osborne and Melva (Ralph) Lund; and her brother, Terry (Carolyn). She is survived by her sister, Carol Jean (Glen) Brown; her children, Michael (Kathy), Suzanne (Steve) Gochnour, Steven (Joni), and Shannon (Ron) Anderson; 16 grandchildren; and 35 great-grandchildren.

Funeral services will be held Friday July 31,2026 at 12:00 noon in the Manti Tabernacle, 90 South Main Street. A viewing will be held from 10:30-11:30 a.m. prior to the services. Burial will follow at the Manti Cemetery. A luncheon will be served afterward at the Tabernacle. The service will be live-streamed by Magleby Mortuary www.maglebymortuary.com. Funeral Directors: Magleby Mortuary, Richfield, Salina, and Manti.