Beth (Elizabeth Elentari) Taylor, daughter of Susan Lee Embry Taylor and Benjamin Joseph Taylor, died on March 31, 2025.
Beth was born in Redwood City, California, on November 29, 1979, and moved to Utah before she was a year old. She learned to crawl, backwards, at a motel along the way. She grew up in Orem, attending public schools in the city, and then completed a BA in history from Brigham Young University. Afterward she served an 18-month LDS mission in the Michigan Detroit Mission. She was then hired by the LDS Church History Library in Salt Lake City as a secretary, but soon found her way to genealogy, which was her deep passion. She became a Certified Genealogist in 2010. She worked at the library for almost 20 years, helping guests, doing research, and teaching classes that were so popular that people woke up across the world to attend them. She founded DNA Day, developed a missionary training program to help the missionaries improve their genealogical skills, and became the manager of the US/Canada team. It is hard to overstate the impact she had through her work at the library, and she was deeply loved by so many colleagues and patrons there.
Beth was passionate about cats and about pop culture. She enthusiastically attended conventions like Fan X, and cosplayed as Canary and General Leia. She watched every single episode of every Star Trek series. She enjoyed visiting her family, both living and deceased, and was known to drag her siblings to see cemeteries and tell them about their ancestors. She spent a lot of time getting to know her extended family, sometimes traveling around the country to meet various relatives. She played a huge role in maintaining the connections in her immediate family as well, initiating regular family reunions that became a valued tradition. She was deeply generous with her time and her money, and helped her family in all kinds of ways, including flying out multiple times to assist with the moves of family members. She enjoyed photography, and would always be up for pulling over to the side of the road to get pictures of a good view. She was excellent at organizing, and always got assigned to pack things into the trunk of the car. As a kid, she loved to dance, and loved horses. She was particularly interested in women’s history. She loved to learn more about the lives of ordinary people, and felt deeply connected to the ancestors that she learned about. She visited Paris in 2019, and fell in love with the Louvre; she said she wanted to get a master’s degree in the history of the Louvre. She enjoyed having the unusual middle name of “Elentari,” which comes from the Lord of the Rings; it’s the Elvish name for Elbereth, and means “Star Queen.” Beth was both deeply intelligent and incredibly kind and caring. She was straightforward and authentic. Her passing leaves a huge hole that will never be filled.
A genealogist until the end, Beth oversaw the writing of this obituary, and emphasized the need to include correct information on her headstone.
Beth is survived by her parents and by six siblings: Genevieve, Aaron (Janell), Sheila, Kynthia, Arwen (Matt), and Kathryn, as well as five nieces and nephews, and her beloved cat Shimmer.
The funeral will be held on Saturday, April 12, 2025, at 11:00 am, at Larkin Funeral Home in downtown Salt Lake City (260 E South Temple), and there will be a visitation at the same location from 6:00 – 8:00 pm on Friday, April 11. Beth requested that people either send flowers or donate to Reclaim the Records. In addition, the family would love to have any memories of Beth, which can be emailed to [email protected].
Those wishing to view the service via Zoom can click “Watch Service” or follow the link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84718269640