The following obituaries appeared in the November 28, 2018 edition of the Star Valley Independent.
After a long illness Boyd W. Wilkes passed away on November 20 at his home, surrounded by family. He was born on May 30, 1928 in Freedom, Wyoming to William Edgar “Bill” Wilkes and Lillie Fluckiger. The family moved to Afton where Boyd attended school, graduating from Star Valley High School in 1946. They lived in several houses in Afton including the old Afton creamery, he had many great memories living in the creamery; they finally settled in their home on Adams Street and Third Avenue. Upon graduation Boyd enlisted in the US Navy and was stationed in San Diego, California for basic training, then Pearl Harbor Hawaii and later San Francisco. Some of his duty was served in Post-war Japan. He enjoyed serving in the Navy but was eager to return to Star Valley his home in the mountains and returned after being discharged. He attended Utah State University for a short time before living the remainder of his life in Star Valley. Boyd met the love of his life, Martha Ione Robinson and after a brief courtship were married on January 20th, 1949 in Idaho Falls, Idaho. To this union four sons were born Alvin Boyd, Gregg, Bart and Kip. Boyd and Ione lived their entire lives in Star Valley building their final home at their small ranch on the banks of Crow Creek west of Afton. They owned several different properties over their lives including small ranches in Freedom and the West Hills west of Afton; each was greatly improved from their ownership. Boyd worked many different jobs while growing up, in his youth he worked on the Fink Ranch on the Bedford Bench and obtained the nick name of “Fink” as he was affectionately known to his friends and family, also worked for Willard Nield on his farm and in his grocery store. He worked as the bookkeeper along with being a mechanic for his father-in-law Alvin Robinson at Robinson Motors in Afton and later would work for the US Department of Agriculture. He traveled the state of Wyoming and was assigned to Casper for the last 13 years of his work. He did not want to move his family to Casper because they loved Star Valley and did not want to disrupt their schooling so he traveled to Casper and back to Afton nearly every weekend for those 13 years. He retired from this position and took up his hobby of raising sheep, hunting, fishing, running trap lines and spending time with family and especially grand kids. He received several awards from his trapping from the Hudson Bay Company because of the quality and condition of his furs, he was truly in his element when he was out in the hills. He was a member of the Afton Volunteer Fire Department and served as Fire Chief during his involvement with the department. He was an avid outdoorsman and loved to hunt, fish and trap. He instilled a love of the outdoors pursuits in his boys. He was never happier than when he was in the mountains or on a stream and spending time with his family. Boyd was preceded in death by his parents, a sister Helen Johnson, his wife, Ione after over sixty years of marriage, and his oldest son Alvin Boyd. Surviving are his daughter-in-law Karen Wilkes and sons Gregg (Kathie), Bart (D’Ann) and Kip (Misty) along with his siblings Nord (Joy) Wilkes, Carol Gardner, Myrna (Lynn) Brown and Jeanie Wilkes. He has sixteen grandchildren, twenty-nine great grandchildren and one great, great granddaughter. He will be greatly missed and fondly remembered by all who knew him. At his request no services will be held with the exception of a graveside prayer, cremation has taken place and ashes will be placed near his dear wife and son in the Afton Cemetery.
Charles R Sanderson, 62, of Rigby, passed away Saturday, November 24, 2018; he fought and lost the fight to cancer. Charles was born and raised in Etna to Calvin Reid Sanderson and Yvonne Roberts Sanderson. Later the family moved to Jackson, then he moved to Salt Lake City. On June 18, 1976, he married the love of his life, Janice Hopes in West Valley City, Utah. They were blessed with two children. Their marriage was solemnized in the Salt Lake City Temple in 1992. Charles worked as a Journeyman Machinist for 35 years. After retiring, he and Jan moved to Rigby, Idaho where he wanted to live out his dream. Charles was a faithful member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He loved woodworking, fishing, camping and riding his ATV in the outdoors. He was known as a jokester with his friends and family. Above all, he loved spending time with his family. He is survived by his wife, Jan Sanderson; daughter, Amanda Rae Taylor; son, Charles (Shawn) Sanderson; sister, Marie Heiner; brothers, Russell Sanderson, Lynn Sanderson; and a grandson, Jaden Charles Sanderson. He was preceded in death by his parents, Calvin R and Yvonne Sanderson. Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m., Saturday, December 1, 2018 at the Clark Ward LDS Chapel, with Bishop Michael F. Peterson, conducting. The family will receive friends from 9:30 to 10:45 a.m., prior to services at the church. Interment will be in the Etna Cemetery, in Etna, Wyoming. Services are under the care of Eckersell Funeral Home in Rigby. Condolences may be sent to the family online at www.eckersellfuneralhome.com <http://www.eckersellfuneralhome.com
We will be honoring the life of Eda Loy Hoopes Lee on Saturday, December 1, 2018. She passed away on November 22, 2018 after complications from a fall on November 17. Eda was born April 23, 1928, the fifth child of six. Wayne, Wilma, Darrel, Nola, Eda and Vaughn. She married Robert Melvin Lee on March 27, 1950 and later sealed in the Idaho Falls Temple on December 27, 1950. Eda was a very dedicated member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and served in many different callings. Her favorite position was Sunday School Secretary. She held this position for many years. One of her greatest joys was going to the Idaho Falls Temple where she did many baptisms for the dead and endowments. She spent many hours researching Bob’s ancestry and doing baptisms for them. Eda always planted a garden, every year since we can remember. Nothing went to waste, she canned beets, raspberries, peaches, pears, apples (apple sauce and pie filling), made all flavors of jams and jellies. She loved to sew pieced quilts and quilt or tie them. She also marked fabric for others to quilt, put bindings on quilts for others, made baby quilts for everyone who had a baby. Dad always told her she had the living room for 11 months out of a year, he wanted December so he could display his Christmas village. It was very seldom there wasn’t a quilt to walk around in her living room. She also donated many quilts to Turning Point, Humanitarian and the Primary Children’s Hospital. Eda learned at a young age to work hard and play very little. Her time was never wasted. She enjoyed watching her children and grandchildren play card games, listening to us laugh. Instead of joining in, her priority was to make sure no one was ever hungry. She was often accused of having “that Hoopes” blood, all work and no play. Eda loved cooking meals for family and friends, food was her way of showing her love to all. All year she would make things for the Lincoln County Fair, and a week before the fair would do all her baking. Over the years she had entries in baked goods, canned goods, sewing, vegetables, hay and quilts. She received many blue ribbons, runner-up best of show and best of show ribbons, mostly for her baked goods, canned goods and quilts. She was also the chairman for the Fairview Fair Booth multiple years. Eda was preceded in death by her husband Robert Melvin Lee, her mother and father, Julian and Lorilla Hoopes, brothers Wayne and Darrel, sisters, Wilma Westover and Nola Turner, in-laws, Bonnie Hoopes, Barbara Hoopes, Milton Turner, Dick Westover. She is survived by her youngest brother Vaughn and Jannalee Hoopes, her children: Angie Campbell, Sharon Lehman, Shauna and Mike Clark, Russell and Lorrie Lee. Grandchildren: Mickie (Lehman) and Jason Klingenburg, Brant and Ericka Campbell, Dayne and Sadie Campbell, Kelan and Laurel Lee, Kevin and Emily Martin, Aron and Le Martin, Kenneth and Bailey Clark, Shelbi (Lee) and Tyler McCormick, Darbi Lee. Great Grandchildren: Colter Lehman, Austin Campbell, Treyson Campbell, Karlee Martin, Tayley Campbell, Kourtney Campbell, Kyla Campbell, Ellie Martin, McKenzie Campbell, Zoey Campbell, Kyo Martin, Chase Martin, Leo Martin, Tanner Martin and Hadley Clark. Services will be held Saturday, December 1st at the Fairview LDS church. There will be a viewing with family and friends from 10 am to 10:45 a.m. and her service will start at 11:00. Interment at the Fairview Cemetery
A very special, honorable, and wonderful man, Lyle Baaron Gomm passed November 22, 2018 in Lehi, Utah of causes incident to a stroke. He and his twin sister Lila were born to Ben C. and Opal A. Gomm in his grandparent’s home in Afton on July 18, 1941. He spent his early childhood in Wyoming, then when his parents became teachers in the Uinta Basin, he attended schools there during the winter graduating from Altamont High School where he was Senior Class President and played basketball on the high school team that played at State. He especially loved the long summers on the family ranch at Star Valley, Wyoming and had many entertaining stories of experiences and adventures there with his parents and siblings including milking cows, riding horses, hauling hay, and fishing in the river. As a young man he worked in Hawaii briefly, then went to Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands for two years where he designed concrete for silos on a missile base, an experience that had a major influence on his life and where he met his future wife, Marilyn Litchfield Najar. Following his return to Utah, he married Marilyn in the Logan, Utah, temple on August 23, 1963. They both attended Utah State University where he earned several awards for his excellence and creativity in design and graduated in 1966 with a degree in Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning. He then worked for the U.S. Forest Service for over 30 years where he received numerous awards for performance. In 1975 he received the Department of Agriculture’s highest award from the Secretary of Agriculture during a special presentation in Washington DC for heroism in saving the lives of two men during a helicopter crash. Later in his career he became widely recognized as the “Father of the Great Western Trail” for his vision and work in bringing into existence a national long-distance trail that extends from Mexico to Canada, a legacy which millions will continue to enjoy into the future. In 2000, the President of the US designated this trail as one of 15 Millennial Trails and segments of it were included in the Utah Centennial Trail. Following Marilyn’s untimely death in an auto accident, he married Annette J. Thomason on June 29, 1990 in Provo, Utah. They were later sealed in the Provo Temple and enjoyed 28 very happy years together. He finished his career with the Forest Service working as the Dispersed Recreation Coordinator and Regional Landscape Architect for Utah, Idaho, Wyoming and Nevada. Lyle was a life-long and faithful member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with a strong testimony of the Savior. He knew and loved the scriptures and served diligently in many callings throughout his life including as a member of a bishopric and a temple worker for many years. He was also a teacher and leader in many capacities, a beloved scout master, and an always faithful home teacher.
He was talented and skilled in many fields and there was almost nothing he couldn’t do or fix. He was a builder and rancher at heart; and among other things, he was a talented artist and poet, a licensed pilot, and he built an airplane from plans and scratch. In retirement he personally designed and built a large home in Lehi, Utah, and his collection of tools was the envy of all. He is survived by seven children and one step son: Marlee (Louie) DiCristofano, Loralee (David) Dodson, Tracy (Roger) Laws, Anastasia Najarian, Jenny Lynn (Joe) Diesen, Seth (Nicail), Sara Jane “Sadie” (Jesse) Allison and Allen F. (Arlene) Thomason. He is also survived by two brothers Bryant and Thiel Gomm (Smoot) and twin sister and “womb mate” Lila G. Webb (Layton, Utah). He also has 26 grandchildren and three great grandchildren. Added to these were 9 step grandchildren and 1 step great grandchild all of whom he loved as his own. Lyle was preceded in death by his parents, a young son Morgan Tyler Gomm, a step-son Mark R. Thomason, brothers Merrell and Ben Gomm, and a sister Veretta Jenkins. A viewing will be held at the Sundberg/Olpin Mortuary at 495 South State St, Orem, Utah from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Thursday, November 29, 2018. Funeral services will be held Friday, November 30, 2018 at 11 a.m. at the church located at the northeast corner of Pioneer Crossing and 2300 West in Lehi, Utah (901 South 2300 West) with a viewing from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. prior. Burial will be on Saturday, December 1, 2018 at 1 p.m. among his family in the Smoot, Wyoming cemetery. Due to the weather, friends and family are invited to gather prior to 12:45 p.m at the Osmond Chapel located at 3166 State Hwy 241 in Smoot and travel together to the cemetery for the burial if they wish. An obituary and further information may be be obtained on the Sundberg/Olpin website at https://www.sundbergolpinmortuary.com
