Lee Greene Cantwell

Lee Greene Cantwell
July 25, 1933 – October 21, 2014

Lee Greene Cantwell, 81, died Tuesday, October 21, 2014, at his home in Smithfield surrounded by his family. His peaceful passing brought the end to a courageous struggle with the long-term effects of cancer.
Born on July 25, 1933, in Smithfield, Utah, a son of James H. Cantwell and Afton Greene, he was the second of four children. He grew up on a farm in Amalga, milking cows, hoeing sugar beets, and trying to keep the hogs out of neighbor’s houses. He also worked in his father’s sawmills and even drove overloaded lumber trucks on the dirt roads in Montana and Wyoming at age 13. He had perhaps more fun attending Utah State University with a troop of loyal friends and serving as a missionary in the Hawaiian Islands from 1953-55. His lifelong love for the people of Hawaii was a defining characteristic of his, and was echoed by a steady stream of friends visiting him from the islands, and his return to Hawaii any time he could conjure an excuse.
He married the love of his life, Karen Marie Hansen, on June 6, 1958, in the Logan LDS Temple. For the next four years they lived in Portland, Oregon, where he completed dental school at University of Oregon, and had their first two children, Steven and Sandra. He served for two years in the U.S. Army at Fort Devens near Boston, Massachusetts, where his daughter Leslie was born. During those years he served as the President of the Fort Devens LDS branch.
The family returned to Portland, Oregon, where his youngest son, Brian, was born. Lee practiced dentistry in Portland for the next 15 years. In Oregon he served with Robert L. Backman in the Oregon Mission, in the West Hills Ward Bishopric and for four years as an early morning seminary teacher, the first of many callings working with the youth, who he loved dearly. The Oregon years were rich with family trips all over the northwest and worldwide travels with a singing group, The New Oregon Singers.
Lee had an adventurous spirit. He traveled widely in Asia, especially Taiwan and Hong Kong, and all over Polynesia, New Zealand, Egypt, The Sudan, South Africa, Scandinavia, England, Ireland, and continental Europe. He loved to be active and shared a love for skiing, tennis, golf with close friends and family until very late in life, in spite of numerous surgeries, heart attacks, a stroke, and a long battle with cancer and its aftermath. He wasn’t one to let things slow him down.
He moved back to Smithfield in 1978, happy to be closer to childhood friends, his family and the beautiful valley he adored. He served as Bishop in the Smithfield Sixth Ward, as a singles ward bishop, on a student stake presidency at Utah State, and for many years as the gospel doctrine teacher in several wards. Many know him as a gifted teacher and storyteller, one who loved the truth and studying the gospel. He could bring the complexities of the Old Testament to life like no other.
In his later years, he returned to his beloved Hawaii to serve two more missions in with his wife, Karen, from 1996 - 1999 and 2001 - 2003. Lee and Karen shared many other adventures together, including trips to Europe, Mexico, Alaska, the Caribbean, Italy, to name a few, and even weekend romantic getaways to Boise, Idaho, and road trips to the Oregon coast. For several years they wintered in California, Arizona, or St. George, providing warm, inviting locales for family visits. They were married for 56 years and were a stellar example to their children of how nourishing and loving a marriage can be, even in difficult times.
Lee lived a rich and joyful life. He will be dearly missed, but he has left all of us with rich memories to sustain us.
Survivors include his beloved wife Karen, two brothers, J. Clair (Margery) Cantwell, Wayne (Beverly) Cantwell, a sister, Linda (Edgar) Tibbitts, two daughters, Sandra (Scott) Anderson and Leslie (Stan) Benfell, and two sons, Steven (Maura) Cantwell and Brian (Misha) Cantwell, 12 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
Funeral services will be held Saturday at 11 a.m. in the Smithfield Stake Center, 600 East 120 South, Smithfield. Friends may call at the Nelson Funeral Home, 85 South Main, Smithfield, on Friday evening from 6-8 p.m. and the church from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. on Saturday. Burial will be in the Smithfield cemetery.
Condolences and memories may be shared with the family online at www.allenmortuaries.net