Elizabeth Lee Billman Unsworth completed her life mission on March 4th, 2026. She returned with honor to her Father in Heaven, where we know she is comfortable and at home.
Liz brought heaven with her when she was born to Delbert Ray Billman and Eva Ruth Richey Billman on August 11, 1952 in Pasco, Washington. As the oldest daughter, she was a loving example to her little brother and sister, often watching over them while their parents worked. Her father taught her to fish and her mother taught her to make a home. Both taught her to have fun and enjoy life! As a family, they created precious memories in forests, on rivers, in chapels, and during dinners around the table.
The blonde-haired beauty moved through life with a bounce in her step, a sparkle in her green eyes, and a soul-deep conviction that she was a daughter of God. She graduated from Othello High School, where she gained friends she would have until the end of her days. She went on to Ricks college, and on one fateful day she was strolling through the Eastern Idaho State Fair. Her sparkling eyes caught the attention of young Monty Unsworth, and she immediately felt at home by his side. Elizabeth left everything behind, followed her dreams of a future with Monty, and their eternal union was solemnized in the Salt Lake Temple on March 25th, 1971.
As Monty advanced in his schooling and career, Liz accompanied him wherever he went. They eventually found a piece of ground that was situated well for the work of a boiler maker, and the couple felt right about putting roots down in Price, Utah. It didn’t matter if the little family lived in a tiny trailer at a work site, a transplanted Miner’s cottage, or a house with spacious rooms. Liz had the ability to make any space feel like home.
The couple found such immeasurable joy as they welcomed each child sent to them from heaven. Lisa, Shayne, Cory, Toby, Loren, and Becky are their eternal treasures, and Elizabeth guided them with an abundance of love and the power of natural consequences. Her home was a place where so many found refuge. She welcomed exchange students from all over the world. She raised an additional daughter from the Navajo nation. When her children found their sweethearts, she took them in as though they had always been hers. Her posterity grew and grew, and every single child felt that they were the most important and loved to her.
Elizabeth’s table was sacred space. This was where feasts were laid out for holidays. It’s where jars of home-canned specialties glistened. It’s where she would plan out what she was going to feed her family. It’s where she would lay her scriptures open to learn what God wanted to tell her. It’s where she would sing old western tunes while putting together a puzzle. It’s where games would be played late into the night and her effervescent laughter could be heard, rising above it all.
She loved gatherings. Whether it was a huge family reunion or a small group of women studying together, she enjoyed seeing the people she loved and celebrating! You could drop her in the middle of nowhere and she would find a way to feed 30 people and entertain them. She felt truly at home when her family gathered in the mountains to go camping. As their family grew, she and Monty became very busy attending sporting events and concerts, blessings and baptisms, graduations and weddings, and they couldn’t have been happier together as they cheered their descendants on. Life took Elizabeth around the world, traveling with Monty everywhere from rodeos to plays, Disneyland to the Dominican Republic, Buckingham Palace to the Sacred Grove. She was always ready for an adventure!
Most of her life was spent creating beautiful things; growing a garden, creating home remedies, beautifying her space with arts and crafts, and making nourishing meals. Professionally, she created bouquets at a flower shop, fed students at a college, and owned and operated one of the finest dining establishments in Price.
She was a fearless follower of Jesus Christ. Outside her home, her devoted service to God included: Participating in 25 years of Girls Camps, energetically leading Scouts who went on to earn the Eagle award (four of those Eagles were hers), serving as Relief Society President, teaching emergency preparedness, loving little primary children. She loved seeking out her ancestors through family history and found happiness serving in the temple.
Elizabeth was so many things to those who loved her. She was flannel shirts, starting crackling fires before morning. She was an apothecary. An ointment for what hurts, a cocktail of kindness. She was a willing lap for toddlers and open arms for babies. She was a ready date to go to the show. She was fresh tomatoes from the garden. She was a jar of homemade applesauce, so heavenly you couldn’t buy it anywhere on earth. She was turquoise and jasper, agate and black hills gold. She was belief. Oh, belief! She was a deep river of belief. She was pop-up soup kitchens. She was a deep and comfy recliner. She was antics and skits and plays. She was voting booths in her house and hand over her heart. She was quick wit and light banter. She was trinkets! She was quilts for her missionaries. She was one part salty, ten parts sweet. She was rolling eggs at Easter and petunias in the spring. She was a pot of hot wassail in winter and Christmas jammies. She was food storage for the masses. She was macaroni salad and Texas hash, orange jell-o and Prime Rib.
She was tearful stories. She was retold stories. She was scripture stories. She was rafter and pillar, floor and roof. She was everywhere and always. She was anchor and bulwark, liahona and light, sunshine and dancing, Mary and Martha (but mostly Mary). She was here before she was born and she won’t stop living after this life. She was visions in temples. She was a golden wedding ring, shining forever with the promise of eternity. She was, and will always be, our queen, our mom, our friend, our angel, our love. In a word, she was HOME, and no one was ready to let her go.
Goodnight, sweet princess. We know one day we will be together again.
Loved ones left behind include her husband of almost 55 years, Monty; children, Lisa (James) Henderson, Shayne (Aunalies) Unsworth, Cory (Tiffany) Unsworth, Toby (Adrienne) Unsworth, Loren (Kristin) Unsworth, and Becky (Reed) Pendleton; 38 grandchildren, 11 great-grandchildren; brother, Nolan Billman, and sister Anita Hindberg.
The family will receive visitors on March 11th from 6-8 p.m. at the Mitchell Funeral Home in Price, Utah and from 9-10:30 a.m. on March 12th at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 47 N. 100 E., Wellington UT 84542, with funeral services directly following at 11:00 a.m. Elizabeth will be laid to rest alongside her granddaughter Ave Unsworth in the Cliffview Cemetery, Price, Utah. The family asks visitors to beware of fragrance sensitivities.
Arrangements entrusted to Mitchell Funeral Home of Price and Huntington where friends are always welcome daily and may share memories of Elizabeth online at www.mitchellfuneralhome.net.
(One word is found in every paragraph of Elizabeth’s story. Can you find it?)