January 3, 1939,to February 6, 2023
Born on Jan. 3, 1939, to Cecil Lee and Velma Leah Smuin Boren, the oldest of ten children.
Gwena grew up in Neola, Utah. She spent her early years and summers at sheep camp with her mother and father and brother Kent. As a child she had fond memories of her pet rooster named Inkabod and a beloved doll named Coppajean.
Gwena met Neldon Ray Slaugh at Polar King where he asked her to a dance. They were married on Aug. 23, 1957, in Vernal, Utah, and sealed in the Manti Temple on Oct. 25, 1962.
Gwena and Neldon settled and raised five amazing children in Davis Ward where they enjoyed a lifetime of farming and ranching.
Gwena worked for Uintah School District for several years and enjoyed teaching and loving not only her grandkids but also the students of Naples and Davis elementary. She was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and had several church callings all of which she enjoyed.
The flowers of her garden were her children and grandchildren. She cherished each and every one and enjoyed the time she spent with them. Being the oldest of ten children, Gwena helped raise her siblings as well as her nieces and nephews, many of which called her Grandma Gwena.
Her favorite things were trips to the Diamond Mountain ground, hunting in the Book Cliffs and taking cows to Death Valley. She was always up for hunting arrow heads and a competitive game of cards.
She is survived by her children, Becky and Lloyd McNeel (Rock Springs, Wyoming); Greg Slaugh (Salt Lake City, Utah); Janna and Todd Merkley; Todd Slaugh; and Scott and Sue Slaugh (Vernal, Utah); 12 grandchildren; 15 great-grandchildren; siblings, Johnnie and Debbie Boren; Jim and Kelly Boren; Mike and Renae Boren; Ellen and Wayne Watkins; and Lee and Elaine Boren; and sisters-in-law; Nita Boren, Joyce Boren and Lana Jeane Boren.
Preceded in death by her loving husband; her parents; brothers, Kent, Lonnie and Jerry Boren; sister, LaRae Bristol; mother and father-in-law; and brothers and sisters-in-law.
Funeral Services will be on Saturday, Feb. 11, 2023, at 10 a.m. at the Uintah Stake Center with viewings from 9 to 9:45 a.m. prior to service and Friday, Feb. 10, 2023, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Uintah Stake Center. Burial will be in the Vernal Memorial Park next to her sweetheart Neldon, under the direction of Blackburn Vernal Mortuary.