Laraine Drew Bethancourt (Belliston) Heil,
11/27/1951 ~ 1/20/25
Laraine Drew Bethancourt (Belliston) Heil, 73, passed away peacefully on Monday, January 20th in Nephi, UT. She was born on November 27, 1951 in Mesa, Arizona to Van Sr. and Elnora Bethancourt. She was the youngest of four siblings.
Laraine graduated from Mesa High School in 1969 as the class salutatorian. She continued her love for education at BYU with a full ride academic scholarship, where she met her first husband, Burt Belliston. During her education, she spent a semester abroad in Mexico, a place and time that remained fondly in her heart.
After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in secondary education they briefly moved back to Arizona, where she began her teaching career and their first child, Bryan, was born. They soon moved to Nephi, UT and had 4 more children - Wade, Nathan, Annie and Devin. She left teaching to raise her family and helped to run the family convenience store. Her curiosity and love of learning, nature and travel was infused into all of her kids and still persists. Laraine was very involved in her children’s extracurricular lives, spending countless hours with the boys in scouting and with Annie in 4H.
In middle age, she became divorced and began a second life in education. She went back to school and earned a double masters in Special Education from University of Utah and Human
Environments from Utah State University. She taught special education, adult roles, and home
economics at Juab Middle and Juab High Schools where she shared her love of cooking and sewing. She
was empathetic and effective, and beloved by her students.
Laraine retired in 2015 and was able to travel and spend more time with her kids and grandkids. She met Harry Heil in Nephi, and they married in 2016, sharing a love of outdoors and their local church. Her health began to fade due to dementia, but she remained a light of pure love to her family until the very end.
She is survived by her sisters Cathy Stewart and Marianne Guthrie, her brother Van Bethancourt
Jr., husband Harry, her 5 children and 7 grandchildren (Drew, Lukas, Lincoln, Elizabeth, Cruz, Kai and
Naomi) whom she loved dearly. She is preceded in death by her father, Van Sr., and her mother, Elnora
Bethancourt. A viewing will be held for friends and family on Sunday January 26th from 6:00-8:00 PM at Anderson Mortuary, 94 W. 300 N., Nephi, UT. Funeral services will be held on Monday, January 27th at 11:00 AM at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints chapel located at 200 S. and 100 E. in Nephi, Utah, with a viewing taking place immediately before beginning at 10:00 AM. Dedication of the grave will be held immediately after at the Vine
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