Audrey Hobson

Audrey Eileen Belnap Hobson

June 8, 1936 ~ February 21, 2020

Our dear mom Audrey Eileen Belnap Hobson was born June 8, 1936 in Ogden, Utah to George Ellis and Mabel Hall Belnap. She was the eleventh of twelve children and the first child to be born in a hospital. She married Stanley James Patterson on August 20, 1954 in the Salt Lake Temple and they had three children together: Brett and Bart (named after the Maverick television series) and then Brenda to complete the three B’s. The family started in Ogden Utah and then moved to Idaho, living in Grace, Challis and Heyburn. They later divorced in 1988. Fortunately, mom found the love of a good man later in life and married Jesse Vaughn Hobson on July 5, 2003.They were together until his death in 2012.

Mom grew up in Hooper, Utah on the family farm. She grew up doing dishes, riding horses, singing and her brothers even taught her to fight. She fell from a horse and broke her wrist, but later overcame her fear and at 16 years old was selected as second attendant in the Hooper Tomato Days Rodeo Queen contest. She loved music and speech. At Weber High School, she was a cheerleader, played the violin, and sang in choir. She often sang with her brother Gary. She was named Homecoming Queen and Typical Graduate.

After marriage, mom started work as a bookkeeper to help put husband Stanley through school, and later began work in the schools in various capacities. In 1975 she returned to school at then Weber State College, and graduated in 1978 with a bachelors in elementary education and a minor in media. Thereafter, she continued to work in the schools as a teacher and media specialist for 26 years, positively impacting the lives of thousands of children through her work.

Music was always an important part of her life. She loved singing at church and in quartets, including the Madrigals at Utah State University and becoming a chartered member of the Sweet Adeline’s in Burley, Idaho, where she served in many leadership positions.  She also sang in church choirs and had many music leadership positions in the church. Mom was a violinist in the Magic Valley Philharmonic and performed in many musical productions including lead roles in such productions as the “King and I” and “Paint Your Wagon.” In addition to winning many awards, mom also travelled extensively to perform, first as a member of the Weber State Chorale to Vienna, Austria, and then as part of the Northern Utah Chorale Society to Rio de Janeiro and at New York City Carnegie Hall. She later sang as part of the Hosanna 2000 Choir in Israel.

Mom was a devoted member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She served tirelessly and faithfully in many church callings, particularly in music, and she fulfilled her goal of serving a church mission at the Salt Lake City Temple Grounds.

Above all else she loved her parents, brothers and sisters and their families, children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. She was so proud of everything her kids did and talked about them all the time. She loved family gatherings and reunions with the Belnaps for Thanksgiving and summer retreats, spending time with the Pattersons at Bear Lake, and enjoying the Hobsons for family events. She insisted on many pictures of the family times and loved going through scrapbooks to relive those times together. Following her marriage to Vaughn Hobson in 2003, she felt so fortunate to be involved with the Hobson family and loved them as well. Vaughn was a wonderful companion to her and they enjoyed their time attending the many activities of the Hobson children and grandchildren. They also travelled to many places including an enjoyable trip to Australia and New Zealand to visit family and see the sights.

To know our mom was to love her sweet and caring soul whether you were family, a friend or simply someone she met in life’s journey. She was a terrific mom, a fine and worthy daughter, a good sister, a caring companion and just the finest person you could hope to meet. She will certainly take a deserving place among the angels in heaven to be reunited with so many loved ones that passed before her.

Survivors include her children, Brett (Susan) Patterson, Idaho Falls, ID; Bart Patterson, Las Vegas, NV; Brenda (Steve) Williams, Boise, ID; brother LaGrande (Beverly) Belnap, Hooper, UT; sisters in law Sherill Lowe, St. George, UT and Carolyn (Joe) Thornley, Bertram, TX; brother in law Craig (Carol) Patterson, West Point, UT; her stepchildren, Paul (Jolene) Hobson, Mark Hobson, Jeana (Jim) McBride, Kathy (Bill) McElhannon , Beverly (Gordon) White, Barry (Marnae) Hobson, Heather (Brad) Staker and Jared (Candace) Hobson as well as the many wonderful grandchildren and great grandchildren that she loved seeing and talking about.

Mom was preceded in death by her husband, Vaughn Hobson, father, George Ellis Belnap, mother, Mabel Hill Hall Belnap; brothers, Lowell, Veloy, Linden, Gary, Frances (Bud) Belnap, and Dar Belnap; and sisters, Thora French, Elma Ross, Vola McDonald, and Iola Murray; father in law and mother in law James H. (Kathryn) Patterson and brother in law Don Lowe.

Funeral services will be held, appropriately we think, on leap year, Saturday, February 29, 2020 at 11 a.m. at Lindquist’s Mortuary, 3333 West 5600 South, Roy, UT. There will be a visitation with family at the same location on Saturday from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. Internment will immediately follow in the Hooper Cemetery, after which friends and family will gather at the Hooper LDS Church,5000 South 5900 West to reminisce and share a light informal meal.  All are welcome and of course we will take pictures in honor of our dear mom. If you plan to attend the post services reception, it would be appreciated if you could rsvp to daughter Brenda Williams at brenw1030@msn.com by Thursday, February 27 so appropriate food arrangements can be made.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Audrey Belnap Hobson Scholarship Fund at Nevada State College to create an endowed scholarship in mom’s name to benefit worthy students planning careers in education, music or library. Donations may be made to the fund at: https://nsc.edu/giving/online-donation/