Ida Louise Frandsen Pratt passed away of old age and natural causes on June 4, 2023. She went by her middle name, "Louise." She had recently had her 95th birthday, being born May 11, 1928, in Clarion, Utah. She lived in Manti, Utah at the time of her death.

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She was the daughter of Peter Lafayette Frandsen, and Ida Caroline Larsen, both of Sanpete County. Her siblings are Ivan Frandsen, Rey Frandsen, Allen Frandsen, Edna Frandsen Bjerregaard, Marian Frandsen Christensen, and Ina Frandsen Midgley. All were deceased at the time of her death except for her younger sister, Ina Frandsen Midgley. She grew up on the same farm where she was born in Clarion, Utah. She remembered the German and Italian prisoners of war that were brought to help do the farm labor. She also had fond memories of a family horse named "Peg." She graduated from Gunnison Valley High School in 1946, and later graduated from BYU in 1970 with a degree in Music Education, with a teaching certificate.

She married Samuel Orson Pratt in January of 1947, who she met while attending BYU. They had four children, John, Kira, Allen, and Carl, who all survived her except Kira, who passed away from cancer in 1997.

She didn't immediately graduate from college, as Sam and her began careers of music performance, which included performing with the Utah Symphony, with Sam on the Flute, and her on the Violin and harp, where eventually she became the Utah Symphony first harpist. Sam later was hired by the Lyon and Healy harp manufacture company, and they then moved several times and lived in Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York in conjunction with his employment.

In 1964, while living in New York, she and Sam divorced and she moved to Salt Lake City, and eventually three years later to Orem, Utah, where she continued her college education at BYU and earned her degree in 1970. At that time, she taught general music, orchestra, and other subjects in the Jordan School District, Utah. She retired from school teaching in 1990. She was also the BYU Music Department harp instructor for 28 years, until 1995. She also had many private music students in the violin, piano, and especially, in the harp.

Her chief personal interests were in her music, music arranging and publishing, music teaching, raising her children, and in continual religious service. In 1999 she moved to Manti, Utah, where she remained for the rest of her life. While living in Manti, Utah, she met and married Max Bigler, in 2000, whom she dearly loved, but this marriage was short lived, as he was discovered almost immediately to have inoperable brain tumors, which took his life within a year of their marriage. Her first husband, Sam, also preceded her in death in 1985, due to heart failure.

Louise had a deep love for the Prophet Joseph Smith, the restoration, and the gospel of Jesus Christ which led her to Manti to gather with the Saints. She served in music and chorus, taught music lessons to the children of the church to which we were grateful.

Louise had 19 grandchildren, additional step-grandchildren, and innumerable great-grandchildren. She will be well remembered in the harp world, for innovative ideas that she put to her husband (Sam), who in turn incorporated these ideas into products of his company, which had a tremendous positive impact on the harp world, and which resulted in many more people taking up the harp than would have otherwise been the case.


Funeral services will be held on Thursday June 15, at 11:30 a.m. at the "Wild Acres" reception center, 1239 South 300 East Ephraim Utah. A viewing will be held prior to services, starting at 10:30 a.m. Burial will be in the Manti City Cemetery. Online guestbook at www.maglebymortuary.com Funeral Directors: Magleby Mortuary, Richfield, Salina and Manti

Services

Viewing

Thursday, Jun. 15, 2023 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM
Wild Acres Barn
1239 South 300 East
Ephraim, UT 84627

Funeral Service

Thursday, Jun. 15, 2023 11:30 AM - 1:30 PM
Wild Acres Barn
1239 South 300 East
Ephraim, UT 84627

Family

  • Survived By
  • John Pratt, Son
  • Allen Pratt, Son
  • Carl Pratt, Son
  • Preceded in Death By
  • Kira Pratt, Daughter

Life Story Info

Post Date

Jun 11, 2023

Personal Info

Cause of Death

Age

Age

95

Gender

Female

Religion and Beliefs

Mormon (TLC)

Occupation

Musician and teacher
Concerned about this Life Story? Please let us know.
NEXT Barbara Ann Perkins Barbara Ann Perkins

Guestbook

Louise was such a talented and amazing woman. She accomplished so much in her life. What a legacy she has left behind, not only in her offspring but also in the many lives she touched as a teacher. Sometimes just a chance meeting with someone can affect that other person for the rest of their life.

Curtis McCarthy , Riverton, UT, US Sep 04, 2023

I was sorry to hear about the passing of a remarkable woman, whom I always knew as Mrs. Pratt. I started playing cello in 5th grade and she was my orchestra teacher for four years in Jordan School District. She had very high standards for her students and taught us how to correctly hold and play our instruments (which some of my own children did not learn from their orchestra teachers). I remember repeating portions of the music repeatedly until it was perfected. I don't know how someone, as accomplished a musician as she was, had the patience to listen to beginner stringed instrument players, but she did and we all learned to love music and perform to the very best of our abilities under her tutelage. I count playing the cello and my understanding of classical music as a great privilege that I learned from her. She will be greatly missed.

Lisa Slade Ertel , Riverton, UT, US Jun 14, 2023

I was sorry to hear about the passing of a remarkable woman, whom I always knew as Mrs. Pratt. I started playing cello in 5th grade and she was my orchestra teacher for four years in Jordan School District. She had very high standards for her students and taught us how to correctly hold and play our instruments (which some of my own children did not learn from their orchestra teachers). I remember repeating portions of the music repeatedly until it was perfected. I don't know how someone, as accomplished a musician as she was, had the patience to listen to beginner stringed instrument players, but she did and we all learned to love music and perform to the very best of our abilities under her tutelage. I count playing the cello and my understanding of classical music as a great privilege that I learned from her. She will be greatly missed.

Lisa Slade Ertel , Riverton, UT, US Jun 14, 2023

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