Leah Jacob

Leah Jean Wayman Grange Jacob 

Leah Jacob passed peacefully of natural causes at the age of 103 in Draper, Utah on February 26, 2025. She was a devoted and loving daughter, wife, mother, grandmother, great grandmother, neighbor, and friend. Her greatest joy was her large and extended family. We are grateful that up until her final hours, she was loved and cared for in the home of her daughter Geri and son-in-law Michael Petersen, and that she lived near her children and many of her grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Leah was born in Castle Dale, Utah, to Hazel and Welzie Wayman on October 16, 1921. She was the 5th of 7 children. She grew up on a small farm with loving and hard-working parents. She attended school in Castle Dale and was the salutatorian of her graduating class from Central High School. Soon after high school, she married the handsome and talented Edward Vance Grange. Vance got a job in the Kenilworth coal mine, and the young couple moved to Kenilworth where they lived in company housing.

They had three beautiful children: Connie, Geri, and Vance Jr. But tragedy struck the family when Vance was killed in a mining accident in 1946. Leah had just given birth to Vance Jr., who was only nine days old at the time. Connie was 4 1/2 and Geri was 2. At the age of 25, Leah showed great strength and the power of a mother’s love as she took care of her young family on her own. She moved with her children to Castle Dale and lived for a year with her parents. She was soon able to buy a small home in Castle Dale with enough land to raise some animals and find appropriate chores for the children.

After a time, Leah met and married LaMar Jacob. He was friendly and outgoing, and he always had a joke to tell. LaMar had a daughter, Shirley, from a prior marriage. Together, LaMar and Leah had a daughter, Julie Rae. LaMar also raised and loved Connie, Geri, and Vance Jr. like they were his own children. LaMar and Leah owned and operated the Polar King restaurant in Castle Dale, and they were known to dance together after closing for the night. The family and extended family loved gathering at Grandma and Grandpa Jacob’s house, where everyone felt the warmth of unconditional love and support.

Leah was a devoted fan of the Utah Jazz. She watched every game and kept a notebook in which she tallied each player’s points. She loved reading stories about the Jazz in the newspaper, and she would gleam with joy when the stories praised the team, sometimes reading aloud especially good sentences to anyone who was nearby. If you heard her speak of John Stockton, you would have believed she was speaking of her own son.

Leah’s primary focus has always been on her family. And her superpower was love. Her heart was so full of love that it beat strong and true for over 103 years. When her grandchildren and great grandchildren visited her, she would take hold of their hands and gently kiss them.

She was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and she served in many capacities in the Church. Leah was preceded in death by her husbands, Edward Vance Grange and LaMar Raymond Jacob, and by all 6 of her siblings. She is survived by her 4 children, Connie Burt, Geri Petersen (Michael), Vance Grange (Tamara), and Julie Shafizadeh (Massoud). She has 14 grandchildren and 23 great grandchildren. She will be greatly missed and fondly remembered for the love and kindness she showed all of us.

Funeral service, Saturday, March 8, 2025, 11:00 AM, Castle Dale 2nd Ward (35 East Main Street) in Castle Dale, where the family will meet friends beginning at 9:30 AM. Interment will be at Orangeville City Cemetery (760 West 250 North) in Orangeville. Arrangements are in the trusted care of Fausett Mortuaries where family and friends are always welcome and may share memories online at www.fausettmortuary.com.