Lynda Bingham

Our beloved mother & grandmother, Lynda Dodge Bingham, age 77 years, of West Valley City, Utah died peacefully at her daughter's home, surrounded by her daughter and grandchildren, on Thursday, October 17, 2024, after a short battle with kidney failure and Alzheimer's.

Lynda was born in SLC, UT, in the year 1946, to Wade and Carol (Siders) Nelson. She grew up in Granger, (WVC, UT) Utah, and attended Monroe Ele, Valley Jr High and Granger High School. She married young to Robert "Bob" Tucker and had 2 boys, (Joe and Darin).

Later she Married Dennis "Mick" Dodge, who had 3 children, (Scott, Brad, & Stacey) and together, they had 2 more children, (Gary & Denise), they were married 13 years, after the tragic loss of both of their oldest son's, (Scott & Joe) Lynda and Mick divorced.

As an independent woman, Lynda explored many different career opportunities, but her favorite and most impactful career was when she was an apprentice to a master jeweler, at Limbs Jewelers in Salt Lake City, Utah where she was taught to design fine gold jewelry from wax molds by Stan and Larry Limb. While working at Limbs, Lynda gained much self-worth and realized she had talent and an eye for jewelry design that she was proud of.

Later in life Lynda met her "Sweetheart", Keith Earl Bingham, while she was working at the Kearns Senior Community Center, and Keith was a volunteer who taught the seniors how to use computers. One day they eloped like kids to Vegas and came back to announce they were married! They were later Sealed in the LDS Temple while living in West Valley City, Utah. They loved camping, traveling, and lunch dates over their 18 happy years together. Keith predeceased Lynda in 2021.

Lynda loved to be out working in her garden as often as the weather allowed her to. She loved her yard with her waterfall and pond. She loved being in nature and created what felt like a secret garden sanctuary in her small backyard, that was her little patch of tranquility, where she had all the plants, trees, birds, and fish she loved. She also loved to grow tomatoes and had a small vegetable garden where she grew herbs, and all the veggies, so that she could eat a salad from her own piece of earth. She covered every inch of earth that she had with something growing and green, and then she added container gardens of lavender and herbs, and all the flowers she loved. She was especially fond of her roses, and in the spring, she looked forward to her daffodils and other bulbs blossoming. She enjoyed canning fruits and veggies in the late summer and fall. She loved poodles as a dog breed, and she always had one or more toy poodles among her beloved pets. Her poodles were her babies and her pride and joy!

Lynda was a very talented artist with oils, as well as other art mediums, but oils were her favorite. She passed on many of her talents and hobbies to her children and grandchildren.

Lynda had a passion for thrifting, even before it was a popular trend, and taught all of us how to upcycle our furniture. She loved interior decorating and floral design, and she spent most weekends and many afternoons out " bumming around" at the thrift stores. She loved yard sales in the summer, and always loved when one of us would join her. She also loved sewing and hand embroidery. Her very favorite holiday was Christmas, and decorating for Christmas filled her with enough joy to carry her through the cold season, until she could work out in the yard again. Lynda was a gift giver. It was her love language. Her way of showing love was to always give you something, whether it be a gift from her garden, something she had made, or something she just found that reminded her of you. You could never leave her house empty-handed; she wanted to give everyone something. She was a collector of many things, including porcelain dolls, miniatures, salt and pepper shakers, whiteware dishes, vintage linens, vintage ice skates, and she loved collecting pretty rocks from nature. She always created the most unique and unusual Christmas trees. One year we plucked pheasant feathers from a bird her brother shot to create Christmas ornaments for our tree. It was the most unusual Christmas tree anyone had ever seen at that time. Far from traditional, it turned out to be a memorable work of art.

Lynda is preceded in death by her parents, Wade and Carol Nelson, her son Joe, and stepson, Scott, her grandson, Joshua Dodge, her brother Gary Nelson, her first husband, Robert Bob Tucker, and last husband Keith Earl Bingham.

Survived by her children, Denise, Gary, and Darin Dodge, her stepchildren Brad Dodge, Stacey Error (Dodge), daughter-in-law Tammy Worthen Dodge Lavery, grandchildren: Amanda Dodge, Michaella Dodge Hurst, Cody Flack, Taylor Dodge, Donnie Dodge, Danielle Clements, Shelby Dodge, 10 great-grandchildren, her sister Sandra Olsen, and brother Scott Nelson.

The family would like to extend a special thank you to the staff at Enhabit Hospice and especially Lynda's nurse Mandy Miller for their kind and loving care in Lynda's last days.

Family and Friends are kindly invited to join us in remembering and celebrating the life of our Beloved Mother, Grandmother, and Friend. Services to be held at Mc Dougal Funeral Home, 4330 South Redwood Road, Taylorsville, Utah on Monday, October 28, 2024, with a viewing from 10:00 am to 11:00 am. This will be followed by a graveside service at Valley View Memorial Park, 4400 West 4100 South, West Valley City, Utah at 11:30 am.