Obituary - Elizabeth Rennick
Elizabeth (Beth) Anne (Rogers) Rennick age 88 passed away due to complications of having a stroke and kidney failure January 30, 2026 in Payson Utah. She was a loving and wonderful daughter, sister, mother, and disciple of Jesus Christ.
Beth was born in New Bedford Massachusetts and spent the first 19 years of her life in neighboring Fairhaven. Throughout her childhood she worked for her dad delivering milk to customers' houses, working at their (Roger’s dairy) sandwich and ice cream shop, and cleaning rooms at their motel. Through this early work she developed a strong hand grip that she maintained throughout her life, and would sometimes challenge people to test her strength just for fun.
She was a member of the all-state chorus and sang “The Messiah” with the Boston Opera company. She played the trombone and performed a solo in front of her high school classmates. She taught swimming lessons and served as a lifeguard at the beach.
When Beth was 16 years old, she participated in missionary discussions for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with her best friend Nancy’s family. Due to objections by some of her relatives, Beth waited until she was 18 years old to get baptised into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the University of Massachusetts (UMass) Amherst. She remained a faithful member for the rest of her life, serving in many callings such as Sunday School teacher and Relief Society president.
Beth attended UMass Amherst from 1954-1955 and Brigham Young University (BYU) from 1956-1959. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in elementary education. She was a member of the military Fly Angels at BYU and, because of her fun personality and beauty, she recruited the most men to donate blood for this organization.
She taught elementary school in Long Beach, California from 1959- 1961 and 1962–1965. One of the school years, she taught a combined class of third and fourth graders. She taught the children of U.S. military personnel in France from 1961–1962 (Laon-Couvron Air Base, with Fontaine-lès-Vervins as the nearby town).
Beth married Jerry Rennick August 27, 1965 in the Salt Lake Temple. They divorced in January, 1985. She lived in Missouri from 1965–1986 and raised four children there. Beth served as vice president on the Francis Howell School District Board of Education in the 1980s.
She completed a master’s degree in Educational Counseling from the University of Missouri–St. Louis in 1986. She worked as a counselor in Missouri schools. She earned a graduate certificate in Math Education before moving to Torrence, California, and she taught math in Los Angeles.
She worked a variety of jobs in Massachusetts during the 1990s including purchasing agent (Boston), nanny (Dover), and quality control (New Bedford). She worked as a clerk/secretary for Abbott Labs and for the Girl Scouts.
Beth had many hobbies including sports and oil painting. She loved poetry and had many long poems memorized. Her daughter Sara has many fond memories of playing tennis with her mom, staying up until 3 AM playing the card game hearts with her and other family members. Beth loved to go to museums and travel. Beth asked her grandson Luke when he was 9 “would you like a present for your birthday or a date with Nana?” He exclaimed, “a date with Nana” and they went to Olive Garden.
Descendants:
Children: Brian Rennick, Tony Rennick, Aaron Rennick, Sara Davis
Grandchildren: Whitney Rennick, Miles Rennick, Sara Riley, Logan Rennick, Levi Rennick, Micaela Rennick, Brenden Rennick, Bradley Rennick, Luke Davis, Aaron Davis, Lorelei Davis, Samuel Davis, Phebe Davis, Micah Davis
Great-grandchildren: Whitney Riley, Isaac Riley