Norma LaRene Despain

Norma LaRene Petersen Despain (October 7, 1938 - August 6, 2025) packed enough into one lifetime for several ordinary people. She was a beloved daughter, sister, aunt, professor, friend, mentor, activist, world traveler, and cat lady extraordinaire.

LaRene was born in Price, Utah, to Wanda Snow and Lorenzo Petersen, the third of their three daughters--Kay, Myrna, and LaRene--later joined by "little brother vegetable" Jim. She grew up on her family's farm in Wellington, Carbon County, Utah. The Petersens lived very humbly, but they were full of love and fun, with large extended families and many dear friendships in their little town. Lorenzo was in the bishopric for many years, and Wanda was everyone's favorite elementary school teacher, 4-H leader, and contributor to anything worthwhile. They especially valued education, reading, music, and being well-informed citizens and Democratic voters.

LaRene grew up knowing she was loved, and she excelled in school and in friendship. One time a girl whose family had very little came to LaRene's birthday party, bringing only a small photo of herself as her gift. "Oh, that's just want I wanted," LaRene said warmly, making the little girl feel welcome and appreciated. She used that gift of love and friendship throughout her life.

LaRene graduated from Carbon High School in 1956 and attended Carbon College. Then she went to the University of Chicago to finish her bachelor's degree. She went to Brazil in 1962 to meet Myrna after Myrna finished her mission, and the two of them traveled to Peru, Mexico, and other sites in South and Central America, counting their pennies by the day and laughing their way back to Utah with less than a dollar between them. Also in the 1960s, she lived on a kibbutz in Israel, earned a master's degree in English at BYU, taught secondary school at BY High and in South Carolina, and married Robert O. Despain, who was also a master's student at BYU.

In the late 1960s, LaRene and Bob went to Connecticut where they both entered the English PhD program. In 1972, LaRene was offered a teaching position at the University of Hawaii and thus found her home for the next fifty years. With awareness of women's inequality becoming more visible, the university came under scrutiny because the professor positions were filled almost exclusively by men while the low-level teaching jobs were all held by women. They told LaRene that if she would finish her dissertation, she could have a tenure-track professor job. She worked at night after teaching all day, writing her dissertation on William Faulkner, and graduated a year or two later. At the University of Hawaii, she taught literature and writing classes. This was at the time when composition was becoming an important component of the field in English, and LaRene pioneered the establishment of composition (college writing) classes and the university writing center, where students could receive tutoring and support for their writing. In this capacity, she mentored many graduate and undergraduate students, many of whom became long-term friends and colleagues. She also became politically active, supporting many feminist and progressive initiatives in Hawaii and nationally.

In 1976, LaRene and Bob participated in the "Bikecentennial," a cross-country bicycle trip. By this time, they had decided that they were better off as friends than as spouses, and they divorced shortly after returning but remained close friends until Bob's passing. The 1970s, 80s, and 90s were years of work, travel, and achievement for LaRene. She ran marathons, hiked mountains on all the Hawaiian islands, and bicycled every chance she got. She received a Fullbright and spent two years teaching in China; later, she taught in Ghana for two years and biked in Africa. She wrote a composition textbook--Writing: A Workshop Approach--that was used in colleges around the country.

After Wanda retired in 1977, she and LaRene became traveling companions, and most summers found them off on another adventure. They would then return home with dozens of slides, and the family would gather to enjoy a slide show (the old fashioned kind!) in Grandma's living room, as she and LaRene recounted their adventures and laughed about it all--like the time they inadvertently crashed the VIP reception at the New Zealand temple visitor's center. LaRene boasted of visiting all fifty states and every continent except Antarctica.

In 2002, LaRene lost her mother just as she was purchasing her beloved home and property in Honolulu, where she provided rental properties for fellow animal lovers. She and her friend Flora rescued a colony of feral cats and built an enclosure for them in her yard. At this time, she also began to suffer the effects of a rare eye disorder, which led to her undergoing at least five cornea transplants between about 2005-2015. This led to her being housebound and accelerated the progress of dementia. She fully retired from the University in about 2011.

In 2017, LaRene became seriously ill and incapacitated. Her nieces Lisa and Lorraine took over her care, initially placing her in assisted living at Kalakaua Gardens, where Daisy, Michelle, and the staff loved her and took care of her for several years. In 2023, she decided it was time to "come home," as she put it, and she came back to Utah to live at The Charleston at Cedar Hills. Jaydyn, McKenzie, and the staff took wonderful care of her and grew to love her deeply. As a family, we want to express our gratitude to all who have helped to take care of LaRene over the years.

Just as August of 2025 was beginning, LaRene took a sharp turn downwards, and she left us within a week. We are grateful that her passing was quick, peaceful, and comfortable.

LaRene is survived by her brother, Jim, thirteen nieces and nephews, and many great-nieces and nephews. Also by her dear friend Mark Wilson, one of the very first people she met in Hawaii, who happened to have a birthday the same week as hers. She was preceded in death by her parents, both of her sisters, and her former husband Robert O. Despain.

LaRene wanted to be cremated and specified that half her ashes be buried in Ferron, Utah, with her parents, and half be scattered in Hawaii. The family will hold a Memorial Party in her behalf--complete with a deluxe slide show--in September.