Dixie (Bushnell) Allred

Dixie Bushnell Allred passed away July 22, 2018 in Springville, Utah at the age of 77. She was born in Meadow, Utah on 22 November 1940, to Lola Duncan and Leland Mainwaring Bushnell.

Dixie had fond memories of her childhood home in Meadow, Utah, where she learned to drive at age 7 while helping the men haul hay. Her father put the tractor in “compound gear” and built up the clutch and brake with wood blocks so Dixie’s feet could reach. She loved riding horses, barrel racing with friends and snatching apples from overhanging branches as they rode along. She was Homecoming Queen, Old Capitol Days Queen, Junior Prom Chairwoman and loved being a member of the BYU Cougarettes.

She worked summers at Bryce Canyon and the Grand Canyon to save money for college. After she married, she and Dee decided that family was a priority, but a degree was essential. She took at least one class each year for the next 20 years until she had completed all of the credits required for a Bachelor’s degree and teaching certificate.

Dixie’s legacy included fostering learning and education. She taught third grade at Brookside Elementary for 22 years and believed that no gift surpassed a good book. She created large libraries of children’s picture books and novels for her grandchildren who came to expect a book for every birthday or Christmas.

Her husband, Dee, was her best friend. Her generosity and patience were the perfect complement to his wit and intensity. She was a skillful negotiator who enjoyed her role as peacemaker in a home where she managed the antics of four mischievous boys and their assortment of guns, bicycles, baseball gear, and hunting dogs.

Upon Dee’s death in 1998, she built a family cabin in his honor near Scofield, Utah. Fully stocked with microwave kettle corn, Stouffer’s Lasagna, and mouse glue traps, it has been a haven for family togetherness. A traditional third Sunday dinner hosted at her home every month offered an opportunity to laugh together and create lasting family friendships. A Christmas Party every December 23rd included a visit to the cemetery to decorate a small Christmas tree at her husband’s gravesite. These dependable family traditions and rituals helped create family cohesion.

After total knee replacements in her early fifties, Dixie’s mobility was curtailed but she still swam nearly every day. She loved attending sporting events and Broadway shows with her family. She could often be found in the stands at of a Springville High School or BYU baseball, football, softball, or basketball game. She loved traveling and said that the thing you learn most when traveling is a better perspective of the size of things.

Dixie was fiercely independent, non-judgmental, and optimistic. She loved doing “what she wanted, when she wanted.” Often, this meant quietly serving neighbors who needed a friend, a ride, or a little spare cash. She could be trusted to listen without passing judgment. The day never ended without a drive with her neighbor, Lee, to see the ducks and the geese as the sun set in the west fields.

She had a keen eye and superb vision. She enjoyed sitting on her back patio with a pair of binoculars searching for elk on the hillside behind her home. She found joy in beautiful things the rest of us never saw unless she was there to point them out. She asked for a telescope for Christmas at age 76. She loved birds of every variety and also blue sky, corn on the cob, a trustworthy pair of Crocs shoes, and fresh garden tomatoes.

She is survived by four sons, Garth (Lynnae) Allred, Craig (Jodie) Allred, Dan (Sonia) Allred, and Ross (Krissi) Allred; 18 grandchildren, and 17 great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband, Leslie Dee Allred and two brothers, Elmer Leon Bushnell and Jim L. Bushnell.

The family is grateful for the attentive care provided by Vivian Weight and the staff at Stonehenge of Springville.

Funeral services will be will be Saturday, July 28, 2018 at 11:00 a.m. at the LDS Spring Creek 5th Ward, 860 East 200 North, Springville, Utah. Friends may visit on Friday, July 27, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at Wheeler Mortuary, 211 E 200 South, Springville, or from 10:00-10:45 a.m. prior to the services on Saturday. Interment, Evergreen Cemetery, Springville, Utah.