The following obituaries appeared in the November 6, 2019 edition of the Star Valley Independent.
For more area obituaries, please visit schwabmortuary.com.
Long time Star Valley resident, Dorothy Eckersell Kennington, 93, passed away October 30, 2019 at the Homestead Assisted Living Center, Rexburg, Idaho.
The oldest of four children, Dorothy was born September 25, 1926 in Rexburg, Idaho to Wilford and Cora Berry Eckersell. She enjoyed a close association with her siblings, grandparents and extended family.
Dorothy was an accomplished violinist during her high school and college years. She graduated from Ricks College and taught elementary school in Shelley, Idaho before serving a Mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to California.
There she met Forrest Weber Kennington who was homesteading in Tulelake, California. They were married in 1951 and settled down on a farm on the Bedford Bench. In the early 1960’s they spent eight years in Kaysville Utah then returned to Bedford. They moved their family to Afton in 1971.
Dorothy was devoted to being a homemaker and mother. She was also active in Stake Humanitarian projects, DUP, served in the Relief Society and Primary, and worked with the Historical Society. After the death of Forrest in 2000, Dorothy served a second mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to San Antonio, Texas.
Dorothy was preceded in death by her parents, two sisters and one brother, her husband, Forrest, and daughter, Lynette Cox.
She is survived by children, Kathy (Mike) Hamblin, Ann (Alex) Macbeth, Garth (Vicky) Kennington, son in law, David Cox, Donna (Todd) Beatty, David (Tiffni) Kennington and Lynn (Nikki) Kennington and brother in law, Craig (Helen) Kennington, numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Funeral Services will be held at the Afton Stake Center Saturday, November 9, 2019 at 11 a.m. with a viewing prior to the services. A night viewing will be held on Friday, November 8, 2019 from 6-8 p.m. at Schwab Mortuary. Burial will be at the Afton City Cemetery.
Luana Titensor Kennington passed away on October 27, 2019 with her children by her side. Luana was born to Roscoe Titensor and Elnor Bishop Titensor. She was the fifth of seven children: RDean, Verna, Marilyn, ElRay, Ellen, and Julie. Luana grew up in a loving home in Bedford, Wyoming. She had a wonderful childhood filled with many happy times playing with neighborhood friends and family. Luana attended elementary in Bedford and then Star Valley High School.
From the time Luana was a teenager and throughout her life she had a job. Helping to financially provide for her family was important to her. Her last employment was with Lincoln County School District. She was the Afton Elementary School Librarian and worked at the High School Media center. She loved being around children and teenagers.
Luana was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She had a strong testimony that helped sustain her throughout her life. She served in church callings and especially enjoyed the Young Women’s program.
Luana married Larry L. Kennington on June 1, 1956 in the Logan temple. They lived in Salt Lake City, Utah and Tacoma, Washington, then moved back to Star Valley, Wyoming for the remainder of their married years. Luana married Bruce Brooks from Cokeville and later divorced. With all their children present Luana and Larry remarried on Oct 13, 1984, in Fairview, Wyoming. Larry passed away January 11, 2012.
Luana enjoyed having fun with the girls: daughters, granddaughters, sisters, nieces, and her many friends. She had a special place in her heart for the boys too. She was always proud of her kids and grandkids. She attended as many of their events as possible, traveling hundreds of miles to visit and enjoy her family.
Luana is survived by her children Desiree (Rick) Gardner, Dan (Lori) Kennington, Michael (Jenni) Kennington, Tomi (Myron) White, Shane (Tracy) Brooks, 18 grandchildren and 16 great grandchildren.
Luana is preceded in death by her husband Larry, sister Verna Titensor Lee, and brother ElRay Titensor.
William “Lucas” Jones 87, a resident of Star Valley died October 24, 2019 of complications from Parkinson’s disease. He was born January 28, 1932 to Vara Ovela Crisler and Fred Lucas Jones in Athens, Georgia.
He is survived by his wife, Carlee Jones Wicks and their son Joe Jones. He has three children from a previous marriage to the late Billie Jean Jones of Dallas, Texas: Deborah Perry, St. Louis, Missouri, Dale Jones and Amelia Jones, Renton, Washington.
As a young man he would often skip school and head for the library where he could read about the things that were (in his opinion) much more important.
He spent a great deal of his childhood building and flying remote control glider airplanes. The airport wasn’t far from his house so he would volunteer to wash the planes in exchange for an occasional ride.
Air shows were a popular event back in the 40’s and one of the pilots offered to take Lucas up for the show in the backseat of his biplane that had an open-air cockpit. When the plane reached the height of its first roll, Lucas was no longer aboard. He had fallen out of the plane! Apparently, the seat did not lock in properly but luckily was equipped with a parachute. He pulled the ripcord and floated down to the airfield with a loud applause from the crowd below who believed this was part of the show.
At the age of 17, he joined the Navy, became an air traffic controller (AC) and served in both the Korean and Vietnam wars. After 20 years in the Navy, he earned his master’s degree as an educational diagnostician and worked with children and teens with learning disorders in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Lucas continued flying remote-control gliders and also taught many children and adults how to fly. He belonged to the American Modeler’s Association and was a member of Mensa for 20 years. During the summers he volunteered as a wilderness host in the Pecos wilderness. During 2003, he became concerned with the high rate of losses to our troops in Iraq who suffered from the use of IEDs. Lucas contacted the Dept. of the Army in the Pentagon and suggested the use of drone aircraft at night with infrared to detect the placement of IEDs and illuminate them with hellfire missiles. He was a wise and honorable soldier, a gifted teacher, a great fishing buddy, and a loving father and husband who left this world a little better place than he found it.
Sandy Sears dedicated her entire life to helping the needy; abused, neglected and damaged children and their families. Born or April 16, 1948 Sandy did her undergraduate Psychology work at the State University of New York and received her Graduate Degree in Clinical Social Work from the University of Denver in 1981. As a multi-state Licensed Clinical Social Worker(LCSW), Board Certified Diplomate in Clinical Social Work (BCD) and Academy of Certified Social Workers (ACSW) she was consistently recognized in Who’s Who In Mental Health Professions and Who’s Who in the West.
Sandy served as a Field Instructor for the University of Denver Graduate School of Social Work; a National Peer Reviewer & Team Leader for the National Council of Accreditation; a Pro Bono consultant for the homeless; and as a repeated Faculty Presenter for The Children’s Hospital Rosenberry Conference.
Sandy was nationally recognized and called to Washington serving as a Federal Grant Reviewer for the Department of Health & Human Services.
Sandy’s life commitment to children included : Serving 10 years as the Clinical Director for Mount Saint Vincents Residential Treatment Center. Here she supervised 23 professionals including eighteen master’s and doctoral level therapists, three psychiatrists and the nursing and training departments— – attaining national recognition for residential and day treatment, early intervention/prevention programs and aftercare for the zero to twelve population and their families.
Her constant dedication to children included work at The Children’s Hospital, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Denver, Colorado. Here she was responsible for the Department of Psychiatry’s Group Therapy Programs. These encompassed the evaluation and treatment of infants, toddlers, children, adolescents and their families.
Sandy lived and gave her life for the most helpless and needy among us.
She is survived by her brother John Marcoccia and her husband Ed Sears of Star Valley Ranch.
