The following obituaries appeared in the August 7, 2024 edition of the Star Valley Independent.
For more area obituaries, please visit Schwab Mortuary.
For more resources including headstones, please visit the Star Valley Historical Society.
Lonell Burton
Lonell Hinck Burton passed away July 31, 2024. He was born on August 13, 1935, the son of Fielding Call Burton and Laura Jensena Hinck in a two-room wooden house on the Burton Ranch in Afton Wyoming. He is the 2nd of nine children. Lonell grew up working hard on the family ranch, milking cows before going to school every morning and before going to bed every night. He started driving tractors at the age of 7 to help with the farming.
His father gave him his first rifle at the age of 13 and started a lifelong love and respect for firearms. He shot many badgers and magpies to earn a little money as a boy and enjoyed hunting deer and elk his entire life. As a teenager he enjoyed souping up his cars, so they were the fastest in town. Something you would never associate with him in his adult life, as he was such a cautious slow driver; until he hit the Wyoming border. He enjoyed blowing things up with dynamite, leaving his father baffled as to how things were destroyed so completely.
Lonell graduated from Star Valley High in 1954. He began working at Call Air in 1957 as a welder and tool builder and built many airplane fuselages. Lonell attended Ricks College and Utah State University receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Arts. He later attended Weber State College to obtain his Math Teaching Certificate.
He taught Metal Machining and Mathematics at Ogden High School from 1966 to 1997. Lonell joked that it only took him 3 years to get out of high school the first time, but it took him 31 years to get out the second time. Lonell had so many wonderful students during his teaching career that he was so proud of and thought so highly of. After retiring from teaching, Lonell began working at Boman and Kemp Manufacturing Inc., where he absolutely loved working for over 15 years.
Lonell was a perfectionist, a master machinist and could build absolutely anything out of metal. His favorite project was building cannons. Lonell bought his first backhoe while doing his student teaching. He spent evenings and nearly every weekend working with his backhoe and dump truck, excavating, digging basements and foundations for houses, schools, hospitals, churches, and stores, removing driveways, plowing snow and doing landscaping. Lonell enjoyed telling people he had even taken his backhoe inside the Logan LDS Temple, as he was employed during the restoration and worked inside the Temple walls with his backhoe. While removing driveways, Lonell found many antique marbles. By the end of his backhoe career, he had quite a collection and was able to say he had finally found all his lost marbles.
Lonell met Naomi Heninger while they were both attending Utah State University. He said she was the prettiest girl he had ever seen with her dark hair and dark eyes. The two were married on June 15, 1962, in the Logan Temple. The couple had five children, DeAnn, Kathy, Annette, Christine and Alan.
Lonell was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and held many teaching positions as well as served a Stake Mission in the Lorin Farr Stake. He had a strong testimony of the gospel, loved reading the scriptures, especially the Book of Mormon, and had a strong testimony of the power and help that comes through daily prayer. He loved blessing the Sacrament at home when he and Naomi were not well enough to go to church the last several years.
He loved the mountains, especially the mountains in Star Valley Wyoming. He enjoyed 4-wheeling, canoeing, and target shooting. He was president of Lynn Irrigation for many years. He served for over 50 years with the Weber Wildlife Federation on the Board of Directors. He was a lifetime member of the NRA and the NRA Golden Eagles. He had an amazing green thumb and planted a vegetable garden with at least cherry tomatoes, corn, potatoes, and pumpkins every year. Lonell loved to laugh and joke with people. He loved family barbeques, especially when he could light the fire with his propane torch.
Lonell’s grandchildren meant the world to him, and all held such a special spot in his heart. One of his greatest joys after retirement was getting to help raise his grandchildren Austin and Samantha.
Lonell is survived by his five children, DeAnn Layman, Kathy Chatelain, Annette (Nolan) Pendleton, Christine (Travis) Bates and Alan (Tiffannie) Burton; 9 grandchildren, 11 great-grandchildren; siblings, Shaire Call, RaDawn Ruud, Jamie (Angela) Burton, Betty (Bruce) Davis, Vance Burton. Lonell. He was preceded in death by his wife Naomi; granddaughter Jamie Abshire; his parents, Fielding and Laura; siblings, Jeanene and Levonne Preston, Amarylis and Ladell Haslam, Kenneth Call, and Kim Burton.
Graveside services will be held on Saturday, August 10, 2024, at 2 p.m. at the Ogden City Cemetery. Friends may visit with family on Saturday from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. at Lindquist’s Ogden Mortuary, 3408 Washington Blvd.
Mike Clark
Micheal Brent Clark passed away on August 4, 2024 at age 63 in his home surrounded by family after a 45 day battle with cancer.
Mike was a cowboy through and through. He enjoyed riding saddle bronc as a young adult.
He spent the majority of his working years as a Sheetrocker. He owned Rockin Rednecks & Clark Brothers Drywall. He was very detailed oriented and took pride in his work. After work he would shoe horses to pay for his hobbies.
Mike enjoyed chariot racing and owned several teams he would drive over the years. As his love for hunting grew, he sold his racehorses and acquired more packhorses. Mike was happiest in the mountains hunting. He never got lost and always knew where he was, even in the dark. He owned Greys River Outfitters for almost a decade. He made some of his greatest friends as a guide. His love for hunting lead to him learning the art of taxidermy. He was very artistic which was very apparent in his taxidermy work. Later he sold his camp and started breeding horses.
Mike is survived by his loving wife, Shauna Lee Clark, children: Kelan Lee, Kevin (Emily) Martin, Emmett (Angel) Clark, Aron (Le) Martin, Amanda (James Sloan), Kollee (Vincent) Bosstick, and Red (Bailey) Clark, 16 grandchildren, his step-dad, Ken Clark, and siblings: Sherry Call, Tess Romine, James Clark, Scott Clark, Shane Clark, & Sherilyn Christensen. He was preceded in death by his parents Brent (Dudley) Clark & Carolyn Vaughn Marshall Clark.
Mike was a private man that hated crowds, honoring his wishes, no services will be held.
Maggie Ellis
Margarita Condas Ellis (92), known to friends and family as Margaret, Mag, or Maggie, passed away on July 21, 2024 after a brief illness. She had a zest for life, shown mostly by her love of people and enjoying their company.
She was born in Salt Lake City in 1931 to Peter and Frieda Condas. After graduating from Cyprus High School, Maggie held a variety of jobs, as she accompanied her first husband on his Air Force assignments. She was particularly proud of her work as a secretary at the Bank of America. She later married Jack Ellis, settling in Star Valley, Wyoming where they founded Ellis Big Game Realty, from which she later retired as a real estate broker.
Maggie loved all her families: Relatives, Baja, Weight Watchers, water aerobics, e-mail friends, neighborhood, community living, and breakfast group (the Renegades).
Maggie is survived by her brother George (Mary Ellen) Condas, her sister Tessie Condas, stepdaughter Kittie (Frank) Borden, of Afton, Wyoming, grandchildren Bart Merica, Bret (Debbie) Merica, Cinta (Robert) Roberts, two great-grandchildren, and five great-great-grandchildren, all of Star Valley, Wyoming, and many nieces and nephews.
She was predeceased by her husband Jack Ellis, her parents, her brothers John (Marilee) Condas and Harry (Rena) Condas, her fiancé Bill Blain, stepdaughter Terri (Ross) Merica and great grandson Patrick Merica. Funeral services were held on Saturday, July 27, 2024. In lieu of flowers, Maggie would want donations to be made to the Huntsman Cancer Institute, honoring her zest for life.
