Iva Lou Groutage

Iva Lou Pilkington Groutage, 98, died Sept. 23, 2023 in Logan, Utah. Iva Lou was born in Smithfield, Utah, the fourth child of Leland Farrell and Elsie Shilvock Pilkington on March 9, 1925. She married Harrison Thomas Groutage June 16, 1943 in the Logan Utah LDS Temple. When World War II ended, Harrison (Grout) and Iva Lou eventually settled in Logan. While Grout taught art at Utah State University, Iva Lou quickly built a reputation as a popular, demanding piano instructor with high expectations for her students. She taught hundreds of students through the decades she taught. Iva Lou was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for 90 years and maintained, throughout, a testimony peppered with many questions about church doctrine. She was particularly troubled by polygamy in the early church and the Word of Wisdom. She found particularly senseless the prohibition of tea, which she was taught to enjoy by her mother, an immigrant from England. She openly wondered what could possibly be wrong with the occasional ice cold beer on a hot summer day. While these questions were never answered, she remained a faithful payer of tithes and in the final hours of her life, she demanded a check be written to her LDS bishop to fulfill her tithing obligation. Iva Lou’s religious beliefs may have been doctrinally complex, but her enthusiasm for callings within the LDS church was unparalleled. She accepted and executed church callings with tireless energy. She was ward librarian, a primary worker, Sunday School teacher, organist, chorister and choir director. She particularly enjoyed leading the Singing Mothers of the Logan 19th Ward. She is likely best remembered for her penchant to stop weak congregational hymns, deliver a brief lecture then wait to begin the music when everyone in attendance lifted their eyes and voices to her cues. Iva Lou carried a ferocious level of energy and enthusiasm into every aspect of her life. She loved baseball and kept notebooks of annual statistics for the Atlanta Braves, her favorite team, for many years. The World Series was a sacred time when the telephone and door went unanswered. Iva Lou excelled in mathematics, kept her checkbook balanced to the penny and watched the stock market daily. With her vision failing, she took particular joy in asking her Google devices to repeat the market’s closing numbers. In her 60s, Iva Lou became a gifted quilt maker who brought to the cutting table a sharp eye for perfection, pattern and color. Her quilting friends were some of her dearest. Iva Lou loved to read and books were among her most treasured possessions. When the scourge of macular degeneration robbed her of the ability to handle paper pages, she began (reluctantly) to use books on tape provided by the Utah State Library for the Blind. At the time of her death, an informal survey by a state librarian showed she was the oldest patron of recorded books and also the most prolific reader/listener. She averaged five books per month for more than a decade and frequently requested books about history and politics. When the library algorithm accidentally sent romance novels, librarians faced intense questioning from Iva Lou. As an unapologetic, lifelong member of the Utah Democratic Party, she never hesitated to correct - or at least enlighten - her neighbors at the assisted living facility where she spent the last decade of her life. She took great joy in decorating her apartment door with edgy bumper stickers where other residents displayed seasonal foliage wreaths or pictures drawn by grandchildren. Iver’s most popular bumper sticker read: “BEWARE! Attack Democrat!” But more than politics or stocks, Iva Lou loved people. Her typical greeting was accentuated with a giant smile and a layer of perfectly placed lipstick called “Wine with Everything”. Iva Lou was a great collector of people and regularly visited people with whom she attended grammar school in Smithfield in the early 1930s. Health care aides who moved through Legacy House to attend school elsewhere were regular return guests in her apartment where heaps of cinnamon bears always waited. Iva Lou made no allowance for ethnicity, sexual preference, education or age. She respected and loved everyone equally. Iva Lou was preceded in death by her husband, Harrison, and beloved grandson, Paul Thomas Nelson as well as her parents and siblings: Roma (Clinton) Low; Jay (Faye) Pilkington; Lew (Colleen) Pilkington and Bonnie Kae (Dean) Malan. She also is survived by her three children: Farol Ann (Eric) Nelson, Savannah, Ga.; James Harrison Groutage, Clayton, New Mex.; and Hilary Groutage (Rick Weible) of Huntington, W.Va. Surviving grandchildren are Maggie (Jackson) Evans; Miranda Nelson; Annelise (Linus) Enokssen; Emily Ann Israelsen; Jenilyn (Joseph) Needham ; Ian Phillip (Brittany) Israelsen. Step grandchildren, Sarah Rhodes; Adam (Robin) Weible; Mary (Adam) Baker; Sam (Elisa) Weible; Anna Weible; Ben Weible; Abby (Wes) Reay; Hiram (Abbey) Weible. Iva Lou was proud to have eight treasured great-grandchildren: Gavin Camacho, Owen Camacho; Christian, William, Harrison and Diana Needham; Ester Iva Enoksson and Felix Paul Enoksson. Step great-grandchildren, Campbell and Lily Rhodes; Vada and Harper Weible; Luke and Jane Baker; Dawson and Hayden Reay. In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to the Harrison and Iva Lou Groutage scholarship for art students at Utah State University, Office of University Advancement, 1490 Old Main Hill, Logan, Utah, 84322-1490 or the Utah State Library Program for the Blind, 250 N. 1950 West, Suite A, Salt Lake City UT 84116-7901. A celebration of Iva Lou’s life is set for Saturday, Oct. 7 at 1 p.m. at the Riverside LDS Church, 325 Lauralin Drive, Logan. Visitation from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The family has entrusted Gillies Funeral Chapel, www.gfc-Utah.com, with arrangements.