Birth date: Jan 18, 1926 Death date: Aug 6, 2020
Vera was mentally, spiritually, and physically strong to the end of her life on Earth. She passed away from cancer at the home of her son, Navere in Riverton, Utah. After 60 years of missing her husband, they are together again ne Read Obituary
Vera was my husband’s great aunt. I always looked forward to seeing her when we were visiting my husband’s grandma June (Vera’s older sister). I always marveled and admired her zest for life. I aspire to live life the way she did. One memory I have of her is when one time, probably around 2010, we had the privilege of giving Vera A ride to Utah from Idaho. I remember we pulled over to the side of a freeway exit so my husband and I could switch drivers. As we were doing so, Vera opened the backdoor, got out of the car and started running up the ramp. I was so alarmed and speechless at first because I didn’t know what she was doing. I breathed a sigh of relief when she turned around and ran back toward the car. Turns out she just needed to “stretch her legs.” That was such fond memory and a shining example of her energy and drive. Such a wonderful lady. She will be greatly missed.
Aunt Vera was so dear to all of us in Idaho. She was such a blessing to my mother (June) and we all enjoyed her visits so much. My children adored her--she could always make them laugh. She would tackle anything and only became more determined if anyone told her it was impossible, including digging out the roots of a tree with a spoon (she did it) or riding a bike no hands with her feet on the handle bars at 80. She had such faith and always made me feel so loved from my childhood to her recent phone message.
I admired so much her faith and strength in adversity and the joy she found in everything. I will miss her, but am so happy for the great joy she is now experiencing as Enos said "I rejoice in the day when...I shall see His face with pleasure, and He will say unto me: Come unto me, ye blessed, there is place prepared for you in the mansions of my Father."
My love to all of you, Ramona (Hayden) Hazlett
Aunt Vera is my Grandma June’s baby sister. I was able to spend some time living with my grandma toward the end of her life, and Vera would often come and visit for weeks at a time. She always kept me rolling with laughter as she would tell her stories.
One of my favorite memories was of coming home from work one fall evening to find these two sisters, both in their late 80’s to early 90’s, out back digging out a tree stump in their winter coats. Neither could wield a shovel very well because both had bad backs, so they’d mostly been using a trowel, spoons, and a kitchen knife. I arrived to see Vera, knee deep in a hole, holding an axe above her head and then just letting it fall so she could make a small dent in this huge tree root. She didn’t have enough strength to chop at all, so she’d just have her arms guide the direction the axe blade fell.
They had to have been at it for hours by the time I found them.
Vera just kept laughing, holding up that axe and asking June if she was pointed the right direction (her eyesight had mostly gone by then), then letting the ax drop...then getting down, feeling around with her hands to make sure she was in the right spot, and digging out a bit more of the now loosened root with that kitchen knife.
Aunt Vera was having a grand old time helping her big sister and getting to have an adventure besides. They didn’t succeed at completely removing the stump themselves, but they worked hard at it!
I’ll always cherish my memories of Vera, and I hope to maintain the degree of love for life that she did.
- Alisha (Hayden) Redelfs
