Ardis E. Parshall spent her life lifting people whose stories had been forgotten. She lived quietly and worked with a focus that astonished everyone who knew her. She created one of the most trusted bodies of research in modern Latter-day Saint history. Scholars sought her help because she could trace what others could not. Everyday readers loved her because she treated the people of the past with dignity and with a rare kind of attention. Her blog, Keepapitchinin, became a gathering place for those who care about honest history and about the faith and struggles of ordinary Saints around the world.

Ardis died at age sixty-six after a life of relentless, generous work. She feared the burden that funeral expenses can place on those left behind, and she never sought recognition or ease. There is now a need to honor her life with care and to make sure that her work remains available to the communities she served.

This fund has four purposes:

Cover basic funeral and burial costs.

Provide a headstone that reflects her life of devotion

Permanently keep Keepapitchinin online so readers can continue to learn from the archive she built with such devotion.

Direct any remaining funds to the Ardis E. Parshall Public History Award at the Mormon History Association, which was created in her honor.

Ardis gave her life to recovering unheralded stories. She taught us to look closely at the past and to treat every life with respect and curiosity. This is an opportunity to return a portion of the care she offered so freely.

Any gift, small or large, will help. Thank you for helping to preserve her memory and her work!