1.

Helene Roberta Macknight

1934–2009

BIRTH 16 MAY 1934 • Santa Barbara

D'Oeste, Sao Paulo, Brazil

DEATH 8 JUN 2009 • Orem, Utah,

Utah, USA

Married:  19 Dec 1953 • San Diego,

California, USA

Marvin Kenneth Soiland

1927–

BIRTH 28 JUN 1927 • San Francisco,

California

DEATH Unknown

Son of Roy Soiland and Gertrude Coretta

Solbakken

2.

Frances Augusta MacKnight

1935–2009

BIRTH 8 JUN 1935 • São Paulo, Sao Paulo,

Brazil

DEATH 5 JUN 2009 • Orem, Utah, Utah, USA

Married:  28 Feb 1958 • Los Angeles,

California, USA

Daryl Letho Gee

1933–

BIRTH 13 SEP 1933

DEATH 22 FEB 2022

Son of Letho Lafayette Gee and Sarah Evelyn

Brower

 

Obituary

Daryl Letho Gee, age 88, of Orem Utah, reunited

with the love of his life on Feb 22, 2022.  Daryl

was born in 1933 in Ashton, Idaho to Letho Lafa-

yette Gee and Sarah Evelyn Brower.  Daryl met

Frances Augusta MacKnight in 1954 in San Diego,

CA.  They began dating and wrote daily letters to

one another during Frances’ LDS mission in her

native Brazil.  She and Daryl were engaged the day

she returned from her mission and were married

several months later.  This month marks 64 years

since they were sealed for time and all eternity in the Los Angeles, CA LDS temple.  They had six children Catherine (Arthur) Taylor, Sandra (Scott) West, Keith (Lori) Gee, Maile (Jerry) Jewkes, Elena Gee, and Daphne (Bradford) Nelson. He was a devoted husband.  Their love for their children and for one another will forever be remembered by their posterity. 

​

Daryl served in the U.S. Navy for 30 years and retired with the rank of Commander.  His specialties were communications and electronics.  During his Naval career, he served in Alaska, California, Maryland, Hawaii, and Washington D.C.  One of his last assignments was in Iran.  He loved his country and served with honor.  Although he was often away from his family during his time of service, he and Frances continued to write daily letters to each other throughout his 30-year Naval career.  After his retirement from the Navy in 1982, he continued his communications career, moving his family to Maryland. 

​

Daryl was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. During his life, he served in various callings including counselor to several bishops, as a bishop himself, and as a member of a stake presidency.  He served as a senior missionary with Frances in her native Brazil.  He and Frances also served for three years as 1st Counselor in the temple presidency and Assistant Matron respectively of the Washington DC Temple.

​

Daryl is survived by his six children, 24 grandchildren and 27 great-grandchildren, and his sister Carolyn Eischens.  He was preceded in death by his sisters Jessie Darlene Barger and Mary Delores Branson and his dear wife Frances MacKnight Gee, with whom he is reunited nearly 13 years after her death.

​

Frances Augusta MacKnight was born on 8 June 1935 in Santa Barbara, D'Oeste, San Paulo, Brazil, of Henrique Clinton MacKnight and Elsa Quillin. She was the second of four children; she followed a sister, Hel Hena (Soiland), and was followed by two brothers, Henrique (Rick) and Roberto (Dinho). She was the fourth generation born in Brazil of Southerners who went to Brazil after the Civil War. Her family settled in Santa Barbara, which is near what is now the industrial center of Americana.

 

Her family still resides on the farm where the family originally settled and where Frances, her father, and other family members were born. She joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints when she was 16 years old. Her family came to the United States when she was 18 years old and settled in San Diego. There she met her husband to be, Daryl Letho Gee in 1954.

 

She later returned to Brazil on a mission for the church, following which they were married in the Los Angeles California Temple. Daryl was in the Navy and they spent the first year of their marriage in Maryland where Daryl was in school. He later accepted a commission in the Navy, following which they mutually agreed that he would make the Navy a career. They lived in a number of locations including California, Alaska, Hawaii, Washington, D.C., and again in California where Daryl retired. They were blessed with six children: Catherine (Taylor), Sandra (West), Keith, Elena, and Daphne (Nelson). After the children were in school, some in college, Frances returned to school and received a bachelor's degree in Spanish and a master's degree in Spanish and English as a Second Language. She spoke six languages and excelled at teaching, although she did not pursue that as a full-time career.

 

She became involved in volleyball, mostly because of the talents of her children in that sport. Following Daryl's retirement from the Navy, they spent ten years in Washington, D.C., where Daryl was employed in the satellite communications business. He was called to be the Bishop of the Temple Ward and they became temple ordinance workers where they had wonderful experiences for many years. Frances continued her activities in volleyball and became a national and international official. Two of her daughters (Maile and Daphne) followed her example and became national officials also.

 

Following Daryl's second retirement, they moved to Utah where a number of their children were living. After two years, they applied for a mission, hoping to be assigned to Brazil. They were successful and were assigned to the Porto Alegra Brazil Southern Mission. After only a few months, they had to return home due to the illness of Frances. When they learned that they would be unable to return to Brazil, they petitioned the Missionary Department to transfer them to the Temple Department and allow them to finish their mission in the Washington, D.C. Temple. Their request was approved and they spent more than two years there. Frances served in many capacities, enhanced by her wonderful language skills. She served as a shift supervisor and later as Assistant Matron when Daryl was called to serve in the temple presidency. Following their return home, they served in the Mt. Timpanogos Utah Temple for several years, where she again served as a shift supervisor.

 

In 2006, after several years of trying to find the source of the health issues she was having, she was seen by The Mayo Clinic where she was diagnosed with a terminal neurological disease called Cortico Basal Ganglionic Degeneration (CBGD), a cousin to ALS. She suffered courageously with the disease for seven years, being cared for at home by her family. She passed away on 5 June 2009 and was buried on her 74th birthday, 8 June 2009 in the Veteran's National Cemetery in Bluffdale, Utah. She left a wonderful and inspiring legacy that will always be shared by those who knew and loved her.

3.

Henrique G MacKnight

1939–

BIRTH MAY 1939 • Brazil

4.

Robert Edwin MacKnight

1941–1964

BIRTH 31 JAN 1941 • Santa Bárbara

d'Oeste, Sao Paulo, Brazil

DEATH 22 JAN 1964 • Alameda,

Alameda, California, USA

Married:  28 Oct 1959 • Alameda,

California, USA

Donna Faye Mobley

1943–

BIRTH 10 MAY 1943 • Littlefield,

Lamb, Texas, USA

Daughter of Carl Myrle Mobley and

Lorene Ruth Helson