Kleah Rowley Nelson

Our beloved mom and grandma, Kleah Rowley Nelson, passed away peacefully on August 26th, 2026, just shy of her 89th birthday. Although the hole she leaves behind is immense, we are comforted knowing that she is reunited with her sweetheart just in time to celebrate their 69th wedding anniversary.

Kleah was born in Nevada City, California, to Carl George Rowley and Leah Pyne Rowley in early September 1937. The exact date of her birth is a bit of family folklore: the hospital listed the date incorrectly, even though her mother was absolutely certain that labor wasn't that long. Kleah celebrated her birthday according to the date her mother was confident in, for nearly 89 years, regardless of what the official paperwork said.

She was the charming, fun, and cherished sister to her big brother, Carl, and two younger brothers, Gene and Neil. After spending her first two years in Grass Valley, California, her family returned to Utah. There, she enjoyed an idyllic childhood in Orem filled with cousins, friends, endless play in the orchards, tree-climbing, and games of Tarzan and Jane.

When she was seven years old, she was struck by a car on State Street and miraculously spared. Though she spent months in traction with a broken leg—and dealt with hearing loss for the rest of her life—she fondly remembered classmates and cousins climbing up a ladder her dad placed outside her window to visit her as she recovered.

Kleah attended Spencer Elementary, Lincoln Junior High, and Lincoln High School, where she thrived socially. Toward the end of her junior year, the family moved to Oregon while her father worked in the Columbia River Gorge. Though moving during high school was difficult, she flourished, graduating from The Dalles High School in 1955 with cherished memories and lifelong friendships. She then returned to Utah County to attend Hollywood Beauty School in Provo, graduating in 1957.

Her life changed forever on a fall afternoon in 1956. In true Hollywood fashion, she met the love of her life, Ray W Nelson, while cruising Center Street in Provo. They fell quickly in love and were married in August of 1957, just before her 20th birthday. They were later sealed in the Salt Lake Temple in November 1958.

Mom and Dad were a perfect match and complemented each other in every way. They welcomed eight wild and busy children into their home and built a legacy that today includes 20 grandchildren and 25 great-grandchildren.

Kleah was the ultimate wife, mother and grandmother with a special gift for making everyone feel loved. She volunteered at school, baked custom birthday cakes, planted beautiful gardens, sewed Halloween costumes, and made the very best homemade bread, rolls, and raspberry jam on earth. She hosted legendary holiday gatherings, with candlelit Christmas Eves and Grandma's cookie bakes being family favorites.

She loved sports—especially BYU—and never missed her kids' or grandkids' events, enthusiastically cheering on their every endeavor.

Travel was another highlight of her life. With an insatiable curiosity and thirst for adventure, she visited most continents and countries around the world, many of them multiple times, and continued traveling right up through this past year.

A woman of unwavering testimony, Kleah loved her Savior and served faithfully in every calling imaginable. One of her greatest honors was serving alongside our dad as matron of the Manila Philippines Temple, where she spent five wonderful years serving and loving the Filipino people.

Though reserved and a homebody by nature, Kleah always naturally shared her light with others. Her beautiful white hair was legendary, often prompting people to say she looked like an angel. She was intensely loyal—if you were in her inner circle, she always had your back (and if you crossed one of her loved ones, she held a very famous grudge).

She was also remarkably tech-savvy, often found scrolling on her pink iPad with a Diet Coke in hand, keeping up with current events and following her family on Instagram.

She leaves behind an army of people who adore and miss her, including her eight children and their spouses: Mike, Duane (Tami), Greg (Barb), Sharon, Joni, Chris (Missy), Robb, and Kim (Chris); 20 grandchildren and their spouses; and 25 great-grandchildren. She is also survived by her youngest brother, Neil, whom she adored, as well as many extended family members.

She was preceded in death by her loving husband, a great granddaughter Kadence Rose, her parents, her brothers Carl and Gene, and many other loved ones whom she has anxiously been looking forward to being reunited with.

Funeral Services will be held on Monday, August 31st at 11:00 am in the Orem Park 7th Ward Chapel, 114 South 400 West, Orem. There will be viewing/visitations held on Sunday evening from 6-8 pm at Wheeler-Sundberg Funeral Home, 495 South State Street, Orem, and also Monday morning prior to the funeral from 9:30-10:30 am. She will be laid to rest in the Orem City Cemetery.

Our family wishes to thank Dignity Hospice for their loving and tender care, especially Maddie and Marisela.

Condolences may be expressed to the family on this page.

For those unable to attend the services in person, you may view the Livestream HERE