Lila Scott Moss
Lila Scott Moss passed away one day before her 95th birthday on October 15, 2023. Lila was born on October 16, 1928, the daughter of George Milton and Naomi Roderick Scott. In 1947 she married Bill Moss. Together, they had four sons, Norval (Gina), John (Anne), Ken (Tammy) and David James “Jim” (Karla).
Born in Gwenford, Idaho, Lila’s family moved to Pleasant View when she was just 6 months old. Her mother, Naomi, died in childbirth when Lila was just 11 years old, leaving Milton to raise the eight children alone. By the time Lila was 13, her older sisters had moved out of state, leaving her to care for the household. She took these responsibilities very seriously and developed a passion for service. Their home had no plumbing or running water, but Lila took a lot of pride in keeping a neat house and taking care of her father and siblings. She would haul the water for the family from the church across the street, and their only bathroom was an outhouse located behind their 4-room house. There was no electricity. She would heat the water on a wood stove to do the laundry. Lila would tell stories about cleaning the coal-oil lamps each morning to keep the chimneys clean.
After she married Bill, they lived in a small house in Malad where, for the first time in her life, Lila enjoyed running water and an indoor bathroom. Shortly thereafter, they moved to Salt Lake where they lived for a few years while Bill worked at Kennecott and Lila worked at First Security Bank. After a few years, and the arrival of two of their sons, they moved back to the Malad Valley, living in a small house in Pleasantview. They later moved to Malad where their last two sons were born.
Lila and Bill spent years working on their dairy farm and running a small trucking company which kept Bill on the road much of the time. Lila spent those years taking care of her boys and their home, keeping books for the trucking company, all while constantly giving service to her neighbors and ward members. She earned the Eagle Scout badge four times. (The awards were given to her sons, but everyone knew that without Lila, none of it would have happened!) Her passion for scouting carried over to the next generation as she expected all of her grandsons to earn their Eagle badges as well, which under the urging of their grandmother, they did.
She was active in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and even though she worked in the primary, Sunday School, and MIA, she often talked about her favorite calling in the church being the years she served as the compassionate service leader in the Relief Society. While the job was challenging, it was service that she truly loved. Later, as Bill suffered from a debilitating illness, she was at his side constantly making sure his every need was met. During those years, she led the blood drive for the Red Cross and was very proud to be a multiple gallon donor herself.
During the little free time she had, Lila’s one hobby was teaching herself how to crochet. She spent 20 years working on a bedspread, pulling out hours of work if it didn’t look right. After all those years, she entered the finished bedspread in the Oneida County Fair. She was awarded the Grand Champion ribbon which was one of her cherished possessions.
Lila and Bill were active in the Malad chapter of the American Legion. They also served on the committee which built the monument to the service men and women from the Malad valley. That monument sits on Main Street in the middle of town and was something that was always a point of pride for Bill and Lila. In 2014, she was named Community Volunteer of the year.
Lila was an active woman with lots of energy. Just prior to her 75th birthday she hiked to the top of the “M” mountain in Malad with her grandkids. Earlier that fall at the county fair, she had climbed to the top of the rock wall that had been brought in for young people to climb. To Lila, age was just a number. Every year on her birthday she claimed to be 19.
From the time she was a young girl until after Bill passed away in 2017, Lila’s life has been dedicated to serving her family, her ward and her community. As age crept up on her, one of her great regrets was that she no longer had the ability to serve others as she once had.
The family expresses their deep gratitude for the kindness shown to Lila during the last years of her life by friends and neighbors who kept an eye on her as she walked up and down the lane to her house. A special thanks goes to the Hospice workers and Brigham City’s Gable Memory Care Unit staff where Lila lived for the final year of her life. We will never be able to repay those wonderful people for the love and care they provided Lila for that final year.
Lila was the final member of her siblings to pass away. She was also preceded in death by her husband, Bill (Norval William Moss, Jr.) two of her sons, Jim and Norval, her daughter-in-law, Tammy (Blanchard) Moss, and a great-grandson, Dominic John Moss.
She is survived by two of her four sons, Ken and John, John’s wife Anne, along with Jim’s wife, Karla, and Norval’s wife, Gina, as well as 16 grandchildren, and 25 great-grandchildren.
Services will be held on Monday October 23, 2023 at 12:00 noon at the Second Ward chapel in Malad, Idaho located at 20 South 100 West. It will also be live streamed on YouTube. The link for the broadcast can be found at the end of this obituary. Friends may visit with the family from 10:30 to 11:30 prior to the funeral. Burial services will immediately follow the funeral in the Malad Cemetery, where Lila will be buried next to her husband, Bill.
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