The following obituaries appeared in the April 3, 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.
Karlee Hokanson
Karlee Hepworth Hokanson passed away peacefully at her home on March 27, 2024, surrounded by her family.
She was born on September 30, 1939, in Grover, Wyoming to Jay Lyman and Pearl Virginia Anderson Hepworth. She loved her brothers and sisters and spent many hours with them in the hills near their home.
She attended school in Grover and graduated from Star Valley High School. She also attended Ricks College and BYU.
She married her eternal sweetheart Ronald M Hokanson in the Idaho Falls Temple on May 27, 1960. They have eight children.
Karlee was a very talented person who had a lot of interests. She crocheted and knitted, she made quilts and taught her children to love art, music, and great literature. She always had something fun she was working on.
She loved to play the piano and taught piano lessons for many years. She loved to bake pies and she made legendary doughnuts and rolls.
She loved family history and spent hours typing and organizing letters and journals. Many family members will enjoy these for years to come. She was a long-time member of the Daughter of the Utah Pioneers.
She was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She served in many callings. Much of her service was in the Relief Society in various presidencies. She also served with her husband in the Rexburg Temple.
Her greatest joy was being a wife and mother. She worked hard to take care of her family. She was an amazing mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother.
She had a simple and unwavering faith in Jesus Christ. She lived her life in Christlike service to others. She was beloved by all who knew her.
She is survived by her husband Ronald M Hokanson, Rexburg, Idaho; her children Ronalee Flansburg, Teton, Idaho; Melinda (John) Slaughter, Sheridan, Wyoming; Jay (Cari Jo) Hokanson, Thayne, Wyoming; John (Terri Lynn) Hokanson, Rupert, Idaho; Mike (Jenny) Hokanson, Othello, Washington; Louisa Bissette (Chad Hill), Kidd, Montana; William (Michie) Hokanson, Wasilla, Alaska; Pearl (Mat) Gerow, Rexburg, Idaho; 33 grandchildren, and 18 great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her parents Jay Lyman and Pearl Hepworth, a sister NelLo Bassett, and a grandson, Hokan Hokanson.
There will be a viewing on Thursday, April 4 at Flamm Funeral Home from 5:30 to 7:00. Funeral services will be held at the Summerfield Chapel on Friday, April 5 at 10:00. Interment will be in the Thayne, Wyoming Cemetery.
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