Jill Birgit Roner White

Jill Birgit Roner White (August 9, 1947 - October 14, 2023 

(Days 27825, Years, Months, Days 76, 2, 5)

Jill White (76) of Salt Lake City, Utah, passed away too quickly from cancer. It’s the details in life that matter.  Born on August 9, 1947, in Stockholm Sweden to Arne Bertil and Birgit Elisabet Roner, Jill immigrated to the United States with her family as a baby and has called Salt Lake City her home for the majority of her life. 

Jill is a woman who loves and lives in the details. Whether you’re meeting her for the first time or calling to catch up on life, she takes the time to see you. To know you. And to love you. She found a connection through sarcasm, teasing and laughing, common ground, storytelling, and simple conversations. She carried an openness and an aura around her of inclusion, curiosity, and honesty. She was elegant, even in sweats, and adored and created beauty in everything.  She was an instant best friend the minute you met her and somehow, you would open up and reveal all the details about your life regardless of how reserved you are as a person. She was love personified. And you just felt it when you were with her.

The people she has loved and shared her life with are vast and diverse. From the friendly faces at the McDonald’s drive-through to the cashier at her favorite supermarket to her lifelong friends, her cherished sister, and exemplary brother, her supportive and inclusive in-laws, to her strong-minded and witty sons (Zachary White and Cameron White) and her tenacious and compassionate daughters (Lysa Smith and Gretchen Thompson) and tenderly, her eternal soulmate (Matthew R. White, son of Woodrow Devore and Emma Lavon “Bonnie” White), she relished in the details of their lives. She prioritized her relationship with all of her grandkids, each one believing they were, in fact, her favorite. Every birthday, dance, game, and lunch date was the most important event of the day. She was eagerly engaged in these moments. Her talent made each and every person she met feel special, important, and seen. 

She forged a life of faith and service by simply looking up and loving in these spaces. And through her, we have felt the loving arms of a divine family, watching over us, protecting us, and cheering for us along the way.

To say she will be missed is an understatement. Simply put; the world needs more Jills. But we truly are the lucky ones. Jill gave us the greatest gift of all — her unyielding capacity to love. 

Jill is survived by her husband, Matthew Ralph White, children Zachary (Hadassah) White, Lysa (Scott) Smith, Cameron (Erin) White, Gretchen (Troy) Thompson; grandchildren, Senekah (Tyson), (Lysa), Izabele (Tyler), (Lysa), Elisheva (Kohrman), (Zach), Rivka (Zach), Oliver (Lysa), Adysen (Cameron), Soyer (Lysa), Anders (Cameron), Zahava (Zach), Gage (Gretchen), Tova (Zach), Estela (Cameron), Reese (Gretchen), Pars (Cameron), Husband’s Son, Lyle (Jill) Ball, and his children; Ali, Tom, Megan, Jeremy, Merissa, Nathan. Great grandchildren, Tyler (Ali), Lucy (Ali), Leo (Senekah). Siblings, Lars (Becky) Roner, Kathy (Jeff) Thomas. 

Jill was preceded in death by her mother, Brigit Elisabet Roner, and her father, Arne Bertil Roner. 

Funeral services will be held Saturday, October 21, 2023 from 10:00-11:00 a.m. Viewings will be held on Friday, October 20, 2023 from 6:00-8:00 p.m. Another viewing will be held on the day of the funeral from 9:00-10:00 a.m. All services will be held at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1850 East 8600 South, Sandy, UT. All services are at Mountain Time, US and Canada). Interment will take place at the Memorial Holladay Cemetery, 4900 South Memory Lane, Holladay, UT.

• You are invited to a Zoom webinar.

When: Oct 21, 2023, 10:00 AM Mountain Time (US and Canada)

Topic: Jill White Funeral (“Smith Funeral”)

Passcode: 758924