Our month started out quiet as we were supposed to be in Mount Vernon but didn't go because of illness. We prepared for our temple training which was on Sunday evening this week. Everyone is trying to get their visiting in before we start full time at the temple. Lon went fishing with LaRon on the 6th clear up to Owyhee, 4 hours up and 4 hours back. They fished for 4 1/2 hours and caught 76 crappie. It took them 2 hours to clean them. We love the fish, but that was a really long day!
We had a very nice day at the temple on Tuesday the 7th, got in a good nap then headed for our English Connect class. No one had warned us that they had cleaned the carpets in the church so we didn't have class but visited with Brett, President Thompson, and we were released as teachers of the English Connect then Lon had an interview with the Bishopric and he was released as the Gospel Doctrine teacher. So, we now only have our temple calling (mission) to prepare for. We have a lot of reading and studying to do so it is good to have the other callings off our plate so we can concentrate on this. A lot of our training has to be done in the temple so we go over quite often now.
We subbed on the Wednesday evening shift three of the five weeks this month.
On the 10th, I got a call from Barbara Zysett as they were loading her into the ambulance. She wasn't doing too good and was taken to the St. Luke's Hospital in Twin. She ended up there for 4 days. She was worried about Merle being left along as her daughter was in Boise. Merle has dementia and gets so confused now. I went down and spent the day with him. At about 8pm Brother Risley came prepared to spend the night if needed. Sheila, the daughter, still wasn't back from Boise. She finally got home at 11 so Brother Risley could go home. Sheila took Merle to her house to care for him till Barbara gets home.
On the 14th, Sheila called and asked us to pick up Barbara at the hospital and bring her home. She didn't want to take Merle with her to pick up her mom, so we finished our am shift at the temple then went to the hospital to get Barb. We had to wait for an hour for them to bring her out. She is so exhausted. She had to have 3 units of blood over the 4 days. The doctors still don't know what is going on, they are suspecting leukemia. Merle was so happy to see her and to be home. We went home for our much needed nap then went back to the Zysett's to take them supper and unstop a toilet, again. When I picked up Barbara on Wednesday morning to get a blood test. She really looks like a battered woman, black and blue all over. I took her to Misty, cancer center, on Thursday afternoon. The doctor has ruled out Leukemia but feels that she has a blood infection that should clear up in about a week. That is good news, but she really looks and feels rough. We have meals going into them for the rest of the week. Hopefully her daughter will step up and be there for her. Merle can be a handful and Barb really needs her rest.
We attended the funeral for Lon's aunt, Irene Thompson, wife of Wayne on Friday morning. When we got the call about her funeral, I thought she was already dead😜. It was a very nice service and Lon got to visit with cousins that he hadn't seen for a long time. We got the call that Lon's uncle, Ralph Wolverton passed away and Lon is to conduct the service and I have to give the eulogy. (funeral #2, they always come in 3's ?) We stopped at the temple to study a couple of talks that we will train on this week.
Shayla and Justin met us at Golf 93 for a quick 9 at 3 this afternoon. It was hot but we took carts so it wasn't unbearable. Then they took us out to dinner at Idaho Joe's to celebrate Father's Day. We had a great time. It's so fun when we can spend time with our kids. We stopped by the Zysett's on our way home and unplugged the toilet again and checked on Barb. She still feels crummy!
On Saturday we went to the temple for our ward temple day. Then we went to the Zysett's to check on them and Lon got the lawn (weeds) mowed for them. Barb had fallen during the night and had the biggest black eye I have ever seen. Sheila was there when she fell and took her to the emergency room to see if she had broken anything. She hadn't but really looks rough. While Lon got the outside taken care of, I got them some food and got Barbara settled into bed for a nap. We came home and fixed arepa's for the missionaries.
June 19th, Happy Father's Day! We got up and discovered that we had no phones😡😡. Father's Day is not a good time to have no way for the kids to communicate with their father! We went to Tracy and Sarah's for dinner after church. We had a wonderful visit and a great meal.
We spent Monday morning getting our phones working again then we headed to Boise to attend the viewing for Ralph. We got to Wendell and got a call from Sarah Norris that there were 2 ambulances at the Zysett's. I told her to go back and find out what was going on. She called when we were at Mountain Home to let us know that Barbara had coded and was on her way to the hospital. Before we reached Boise we found out that Barbara had passed away. (#3) It just doesn't seem possible! I have been working on the eulogy but want to visit with Aunt Jenny before I finish it. Craig and Robbie took us to dinner then we went to the viewing. Jenny is doing OK. Her kids are close by and taking great care of her. Keith and Phyllis were just leaving the viewing with Cheryl and Harvy so we got to visit with them.
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Eulogy for Ralph Wolverton by Nancy Thompson
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The hardest part of trying to give this eulogy
for someone who has lived to be the age of 92 is that Ralph outlived most of
the people that knew him as a child. So, I couldn’t come up with any
embarrassing moments to share.
Ralph’s only living sibling, Phyllis Thompson,
remembers herding cattle with him. She also remembers a day when they
tied a goat to a little wagon and all climbed in to take a ride. The goat
wasn’t real thrilled with this arrangement. He got even. As they
were almost back home, he suddenly lowered his head and went under a
fence. As the wagon passed under the fence, all the children were knocked
off the wagon.
Ralph was taught to work by his father and
took pride in a job well done.
Ralph attended schools in Magic Valley.
Aunt Charlotte (Jenny’s older sister) remembers the night that Ester (another
sister) and her husband Willis Thompson picked up Charlotte and Jenny and took
them to the weekly dance at the Moose Hall. This is where Ralph and Jenny
met each other.
Esther and Willis and Bert and Charlotte
attended the wedding of Ralph and Jenny on May 29th 1948 in
Hawthorn, Nevada. They just celebrated their 74th wedding
anniversary. Charlotte says that they were just kids and it’s been fun to
watch them grow up together.
Ralph worked on construction for 48 years and
was a member of the International Union of Operating Engineers. He got to
drive those big trucks and tractors in highway projects around the region.
After retiring, Ralph and Jenny moved to
Jerome, Idaho, living next to Ralph’s sister and husband, Phyllis and Keith
Thompson. These 4 spent many nights playing pinochle and many winters in
Yuma, Arizona to get out of the cold. Ralph and Jenny began playing music
with a group in Yuma and joined the Old Time fiddlers in Magic Valley.
Ralph played both the guitar and the harmonica. Jenny learned to play the
violin. They could be found almost every weekend during the spring and
summer entertaining people at the Stricker Ranch and at retirement centers and
nursing homes all over Magic Valley. They even played at church parties.
From his nephew Lon Thompson;
I will always remember Ralph for his great
ability to ride motorcycles and 4-wheelers. I don’t think Ralph knew what
slow and easy meant. I bought his last motorcycle, a Virago 750, a very
nice bike. It was also my last bike. We then turned our attention
to 4-wheelers. We had a good time visiting places such as Silver City and
Cotton Wood, north east of Fairfield.
Jenny and I also enjoyed the 4-wheeler trips
with the understanding that if the trail got too rocky or steep, we could get
off and walk – and we did a few times.
Ralph and Jenny moved back to Boise to be
closer to their children, Barry, Denise, Julie, Shawna and Kayla. They
loved spending time with their 11 grandchildren, 17 great grandchildren and 7
great, great grandchildren.
Ralph passed away June 12nd 2022
at his home.
Ralph was dedicated to his wife and
family. He was honest, loyal, fun, hard-working and always ready for an
adventure.
He loved horses and especially dogs.
He loved to fish and hunt.
He loved to ride motorcycles with the wind in
his face.
He settled for 4-wheelers as he got older.
He loved music and sharing it with others.
With a kiss he told his sweetheart of 74 years
that he was going home.
Going home, I’m just going home. It’s
not far, just close by through an open door.
Mother’s there expecting me, Father’s waiting
too.
Lots of folks gathered there, all the friends
I knew.
I’m going home.
Ralph, we love you and we will always remember
your quick smile and enthusiasm for life. May God be with you and with
all of us till we meet again.
In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen
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Tribute to Barbara Zysett
Barbara and
I found that we had a lot in common and that probably attributed to our being
such good friends.
Barbara and
I were both born in October of 1951. But
Barbara is much older than I, 6 whole days.
Barbara and
I are both breast cancer survivors.
Merle and Sophie were her cheerleaders, taking her to and from her
radiation treatments daily (getting into mischief once and a while – something
about a police escort?). Barb went
through this trial with a cheerful countenance and a positive attitude.
Barbara and
I both have a love for books. I helped
her go through all of her books when she had new carpet installed. She was trying to de-junk closets and book
shelves. We had to check each book to
make sure that she didn’t give away a precious one. Barbara donated hundreds of books to the
public library in Jackpot, Nevada. But
she still has at least a hundred in her home.
Each and every book that she kept has a special place in her heart. I have taken Barbara to Barns and Nobles
several times as she needed to get the great grandchildren books for varies
occasions. One of her greatest desires
is that her great grandchildren learn to love books as much as she does.
Barbara and
Merle have been going to the Genealogy Library for years trying to connect
their families. She was very particular
and had to have at least 3 sources to identify a person before she was ready to
do the ordinance work for them. Since
2012, she has found 2127 family members and attached 14,300 sources. She has made 16,500 contributions to Family
Search since they have gone digital.
Barbara and
I are temple enthusiasts. We could
easily go every day of the week. A year
ago, when Merle had to give up his driving and sold the car, Lon and I were
privileged to be able to go with Barbara and Merle to the temple weekly. Barbara
and Merle have given the temple blessings to hundreds of their ancestors over
the years. This time spent together has been so fun for us. Some weeks we were able to take Sister Vivian
Petersen with us. Of course we always
went to lunch after our temple appointment.
We usually tried a different restaurant each week, but would return to
our regulars quite often; Janitzios for Chile Relleno and the Olive Garden for
their Chicken and Gnocchi (nyow-kee) Soup and bread sticks. Barbara and I love to eat out.
Barbara and
I are very independent and just a little stubborn. In the temple, Barbara would never use the
handicapped lockers. Those were for
people who were handicapped. She had her
steps counted and didn’t need any help.
She hated to be hoovered over.
These last few months were very hard on Barbara with Merle’s illness progressing faster than she wanted to believe. Merle has always been her eyes, her helper, her guardian. She was feeling very much alone as her Merle wasn’t here anymore. But she moved forward with faith, courage, and determination to care for herself and Merle without being a burden on anyone. She never has been a burden. We, her Jerome 2nd ward family, have loved being able to help and support these amazing people. Barbara always had her Sunday School lesson and Relief Society lesson studied so she could share her knowledge of the Gospel with us. She shared her testimony regularly that she knew that she was a child of God and she loved and knew that the Gospel of Jesus Christ was true. She lived her life patterned after her Savior. She was kind, loving, honest, courageous, funny, dedicated to her family, service minded (she and Merle helped at the Soup Kitchen for years and served a service mission to the Bishop’s Store House with Sohpie serving right beside of them). Barbara knitted stocking caps on her knitting loom and gave away hundreds to the less fortunate. This kept her hands busy and Merle busy putting each skein of yarn into a ball. Barbara has set a high standard for us to follow. Of course, she wasn’t perfect and sometimes her patience would spread very thin. She would give herself a good pity party and then pick herself up and putting one foot in front of the other, push forward. She would remind herself that she didn’t have as many trials as others. That she and Merle were blessed to have each other. So, with a prayer in her heart and a smile on her face, she would tackle whatever obstacle was in her way. I pray that we will be able to follow her example so that one day we can be together again. My dear friend Barbara, we love you and already miss you terribly. May God be with you and with all of us till we meet again. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
I think we are glad to see June come to an end. It's been an emotional rollercoaster month - the highs: spending time with family and friends and the lows: saying goodbye to family and friends. We are so thankful for the gospel of Jesus Christ that teaches us about the Plan of Happiness; that families can be together forever, and that if we live worthily we will be with these special people again one day. Goodbye June.
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