17 Sep 1946 – 19 Jan 2025
Wife of Michael Stanley Tanner
Obituary
Luise Marie Ybright Johnston, a resident of Enterprise, Utah, died of pancreatic cancer in St. George, Utah on Sunday, January 19, 2025, at the age of 78.
Luise Marie Ybright was born on September 17, 1946, to Luise Gertrude Barge and Norman Everett Ybright in Sacramento, California. She was the fourth of five children.
Luise graduated from Folsom High School in Folsom, California in 1964. That fall, she began college at Brigham Young University. Though she left school two years later to get married, she eventually returned to BYU, graduating in 1992 with a degree in English as well as a secondary education teaching certificate.
Luise became a beloved teacher of English, first at Westlake Junior High School in West Valley City, Utah and then at Damonte Ranch High School in Reno, Nevada.
Luise had five children – four with her first husband, Michael Stanley Tanner, and one with her second husband, Michael Thomas Gage.
Luise loved music and enjoyed performing. She played both the piano processional and recessional at her kindergarten graduation ceremony in 1952. In 1957 at age 11, she danced in “Gene Nelson’s Valley Varieties,” on Sacramento’s television channel KBET and came home with a first-place trophy.
Singing, dancing, and playing the piano remained sources of joy and fulfillment throughout her life. She loved to read and travel and was also an avid bird watcher and San Francisco Giants fan. For many years, she was a faithful volunteer at Salt Lake City’s LDS Hospital.
Luise died peacefully in her sleep surrounded by her children. She is survived by her brother, Fredric Rolland Ybright of Enterprise, UT; her sister, Edie Ryan of Citrus Heights, CA; her children: Luisa Michelle (Patrick) Perkins, Stephanie Lyn Tanner, Mae Tanner, Matthew Cardon (Joy) Tanner, and Thomas Michael Gage; as well as 19 grandchildren and 6 great-grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held on Saturday, July 12, 2025, at 11 o’clock in the morning in Citrus Heights, California.
In lieu of sending flowers, please consider donating to ProLiteracy Worldwide, https://www.proliteracy.org/ or the American Diabetes Association, https://diabetes.org/.
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-Published online at https://www.metcalfmortuary.com/obituary/luise-johnston