Ruth Cannon Siebers

If you were in her sphere, you had the luxury of her attention. Family, friends, music, reading, service, and a love of color and flowers defined her life.

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Born November 3, 1934 to John Bennion and Alice Nelson Cannon in Salt Lake City, UT, Ruth was raised in a busy and loving home as the fifth of eight children. She was pre-deceased by sisters, Elaine and Leonora, and is survived by John, Alice, Anne, Rick and Joe. Ruth lived most of her adult life in the Chicago and then Miami areas but every summer, by train or station wagon, she brought her growing family back to SLC where she nurtured the strong attachments to her large extended family.

As a member of the quartet at Salt Lake’s East High, she sang in a rich alto voice. Whether singing in a quartet for twenty-five years with members of the Northwest I Ward in Arlington Heights, IL or teaching her own (and countless other) children to sing in harmony, music was a centerpiece of her life. When she returned to Utah in 1994, she joined the Jay Welch Chorale. More recently, as the long time ward music chair in her Sandy, UT, LDS ward, she sought out, encouraged, and gave opportunity to young ward members by assigning them prelude music and musical numbers.

Ruth graduated from the University of Utah with a degree in Elementary Education. She married her college sweetheart and Navy-bound Larry Siebers of Tooele, UT, in June of 1955. Their marriage spanned nearly 66 years of love and adventure. Together they raised six children and later welcomed twenty-two grandchildren and seven great grandchildren into the clan. Her pattern was to always develop and nurture. Aloud, she read books short and long to her children and then started a Junior Great Books club at their elementary school so more children could love literature as she did. She read eight to ten books a month throughout her life.

Ruth served her husband and children with intention and love, giving them the gifts of optimism and competency. She was a mother who loved having children, being with them, playing with them, and singing and reading with them. Family was her grand project, as expressed in a scripture framed on the wall of her home: I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. (3 John 1:4)

Ruth embodied a resilient faith and dedication to the gospel of Jesus Christ. As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, she served for decades in ward and stake callings in Primary, in Relief Society, with LDS Social Services, and in a service mission to the Rose Park ward in SLC. Like a well-tended garden, those within her influence flourished. Near Christmas, she prepared dozens of holiday cookies and Yule log cakes for her family to deliver on Christmas Eve. They sang Christmas carols to dear friends as well as the lonely or discouraged—no matter the Chicago weather.

Once you were her friend, you were thought of and remembered. Treasured memories are phone calls she and Larry made singing Happy Birthday to their progeny. Her Christmas card index was voluminous covering friendships since 1961. Prior to the advent of email she remained close to her childhood girlfriends through a round-robin letter and lunch during her summer visits to Utah.

She and Larry were a pair in thought and action. They traveled widely throughout the US, Europe, and Central America. They maintained season tickets to the opera, symphony, Broadway shows in Chicago, and eventually, Pioneer Theater. They were members of the Ensign Club and always in a book club. Ruth loved museums, zoos, galleries, arboretums, and botanical gardens.

Smart, compassionate, thoughtful, inclusive and inquisitive, she passed away in Salt Lake City on March 3, 2021, after a short illness. She is survived by her husband, Larry, and children Stacy (Troy) Tanner, Shari (Chris) Crall, Shauna (Alan) Sandberg, Scott (Paula) Siebers, Steve (Alisha) Siebers and Spencer (Michelle) Siebers. Having basked in her bright light we hope to carry her warmth forward. We thank the staff at The Wellington for their kind attention.

A private family service will be held at burial at Memorial Redwood Cemetery followed by a Memorial Service in August 2021 when we can all gather and hug and honor Ruth's remarkable life. To be informed of August details, please email sscrall@gmail.com.

The service will be livestreamed via Zoom and can be joined from home using the instructions below:

1. Joining by computer

a. Go to zoom.us in any internet browser

b. Click “join meeting”

c. Enter the meeting id - 8012981564

d. A box will open saying “https://zoom.us wants to open this application”. Click “open zoom”

e. Click “Join with Computer Audio”

f. Click “Mute” in the bottom left hand corner so that your audio does not interrupt the funeral services

2. Joining by phone or iPad

a. Download the Zoom app

b. Open the app and select “join a meeting”

c. Enter the meeting id - 8012981564

d. Select “join without video”

e. Select “Call using internet audio”

f. Select “mute” in the bottom left hand corner so that your audio does not interrupt the funeral services.