Faye Belle


March 28, 1934 ~ April 6, 2014
Our beautiful, beloved Mother and Grandmother left this earth unexpectedly when she went back to her Heavenly Father on April 6, 2014.
Faye Belle was born in Bluff, UT in the Jens Nielson House (4 Gables) on March 28, 1934 to William Benjamin Columbus (Lum) Gaines and Buena Elizabeth Gaines.
Faye Belle’s father, Lum, left his homeland of Oxford, AL to work with the Crockett Cattle Co. As the years went on he ended up in Rayma, NM, where he met Buena.
Her family owned a little trading post in Salado, TX; just north of Austin, before migrating west to Rayma and opening up another trading post there.
After they got married, they lived in Rayma for several years before Lum decided to move his little family west.
In 1932, they packed up the uncovered wagon for their long journey with about 100 head of cattle.
Lum, Buena and their one year old little boy, Melvin said goodbye to Buena’s family and set out on an unknown adventure.
Their travels had been long and hard when they finally arrived in the small town of Bluff City, UT. When they arrived Buena said she wasn’t going any further…and they didn’t.
Their beautiful daughter, Faye Belle, was born two years later. Faye Belle grew up quickly and before long she was known as the Belle of Bluff.
Also, the name Belle means beauty in French. She really lived up to the name, because she really was quite the beauty.
She had two daughters; Kathy Sharp and Nancy Sumner. When Faye Belle was 27 years old, she had a tubal pregnancy and Rheumatic Fever, which weakened her heart and threaten her life.
Faye Belle worked hard her whole life. She worked throughout her childhood on the family farm growing corn, alfalfa, and their famous enormous sweet watermelons.
She worked her adult life in the businesses she built. The gas station was opened in 1962 and the café followed in 1965.
She worked hard and long hours until sometimes 10 or 11 at night, before going home to get some rest. Sometimes she even worked all night. She was still working in the café up until the day she died.
Faye Belle never knew a stranger and called everyone Sweetheart or Honey. If she liked you, she’d give you the shirt off her back. She loved the Navajo people and enjoyed seeing them each day.
She was a Notary Public for over 50 years. She would have quit, but she said the Navajo people needed her.
She was the first business person (male or female) in the state of Utah to try to stop the nuclear waste disposal in Canyonlands in about 1985.
One of Mom’s favorite things to do was travel. She always enjoyed seeing new things. She had been in all 50 states and many countries. She had seen it all…or at least most of it and was always ready to go again and see more.
She had her 80th birthday celebration just one week before she went back to her Heavenly Father. She said her party was the best day of her whole life!
Mom was lively and adventurous, but loved her home. She was bold and daring, but kind and giving. She was blunt and determined, but sweet and loving.
She was courageous and energetic, and full of spirit. She was proud and confident, but thoughtful. She was fearless, honest, and big hearted. She was beautiful!
She said she had lived the life she wanted to live and seen the places she wanted to see and she was truly happy with the life she had lived.
Her life was full and complete without many stones unturned. We were so proud of her and all her accomplishments and the many sacrifices she made for her family.
She was our Rock and we will miss her dearly!
Faye Belle is survived by her two daughters; Kathy (Craig) Sharp and Nancy Sumner, six grandchildren: Valerie, William, and Michael (Kathy’s). Tyler, Shannon, and Stacy (Nancy’s) and six great grandchildren.
She is preceded in death by her parents, Lum & Buena Gaines.
Graveside services were held at the Bluff Cemetery on April 11, 2014 at 11 a.m.