Obituary of Verda Risenmay

Verda Pugmire Risenmay was born on October 9, 1920 in Ozone, Idaho, the third of five children born to Jesse Lewis and Wanetta Anderson Pugmire. She passed away quietly on February 16, 2013 after a rewarding life of more than 92 years. She considered her family and her gospel faith her greatest treasures, and in both of these respects she was richly blessed. From her four sons, Rees, Ray, Brad and Kim, Verda has been blessed thus far with 145 descendants, including 29 grandchildren, 99 great grandchildren, and 13 great-great grandchildren. She unofficially adopted many others into her family, and they rightly consider her their grandmother as well. We know in our hearts of her abiding and unconditional love for each of us. Verda descended from valiant pioneers in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and she took pride in the fact that each of her sons, all of her grandsons, and many of her great-grandsons and granddaughters have served as missionaries throughout the world and continue to serve the Church in callings great and small. Throughout her life Verda was active in church service in the Primary, Sunday School, Young Women, and Relief Society organizations, as well as serving as a temple ordinance worker. From a young age, the love of her life was Howard Leon Risenmay. In her life story Verda tells of her joy when Howard asked her on her first date at age 13, how she wept when he left home for college and then to serve a mission in Czechoslovakia, and how overjoyed she was upon his return when he asked her to be his wife. They were married for eternity in the Salt Lake City Temple on April 3, 1940 and farmed in Woodville, Idaho and Othello, Washington during 57 years of marriage. The sorest trial of Verda's life has been living as a widow for more than 15 years since Howard passed away on December 17, 1997. We know there is rejoicing in heaven now that they are reunited. Verda's zest for life caused some to refer to her as their "Teenage Grandma." She was always in the middle of every game and frolicked with young and old. The tales of her antics and misadventures are legion and a continual source of laughter. Our mother and grandmother will be sorely missed but never forgotten.