OBITS: The Spectrum 26 Dec 2004; St. George, Washington co., Utah text-formatted by W. David Samuelsen *********************************************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ut/utfiles.htm *********************************************************************** Source: St. George The Spectrum http://www.thespectrum.com Elma Earle Ratcliff 'Together At Last' Elma Earle Ratcliff passed away December 19, 2004 at the age of 91 in Cedar City, Utah. She was born in Farmhaven, Mississippi on April 8, 1913 to Charles Oliver Diffee and Nices Jane Ray. She spent most of her childhood growing up all over Mississippi and met the love of her life, Randall Columbus Ratcliff, at a youth conference and they were married on July 14, 1935 in Darben, Mississippi and sealed in the Mesa Arizona Temple, November 27, 1949. After raising a family, she went back to school at the age of 44 to become a nurse and became a Licensed Vocational Nurse. After working at four large hospitals in the Los Angeles area, she went into nursing care, as well as raising her two daughters. When her husband retired, they returned to Mississippi. After the passing of her husband, she moved to Utah to be closer with her only living daughter. She was an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and devoted much of her time to temple work. She is survived by her daughter Patsy Anne Ratcliff-Venable of Cedar City; sister Nadine Bascom of Victorville, CA; brother Oliver Edward Diffee of Phoenix City, AL; five grandchildren, twenty great grandchildren, and four great-great grandchildren. She is preceded in death by her husband, her daughter Relda Voncel Peterson, her parents, and four sisters. Memorial services will be held on Monday, December 27, 2004 at 5:00 pm at the Cedar 16th Ward Chapel, 1925 W 300 S. Interment will be in the LDS Church Cemetery in Red Star, Mississippi. Connie LaRue Reynolds St. George -- On December 20, 2004, Connie LaRue Reynolds passed away due to heart complications. Connie was born in Tooele, Utah on September 9, 1942, to Andrew Chester Whitehouse and Ada LaRue Willis Whitehouse. She is survived by her husband Brent, four children; Leisa, Burk, Kimberly, and Derek, seven grandchildren, and two brothers, Chet and Roy Whitehouse. Visitation will be Tuesday, December 28th from 1:00-2:50 pm at Hurricane Valley Mortuary, 140 North Main, Hurricane, Utah 84737. Interment will be at 3:00 pm in the Toquerville Cemetery, Toquerville, Utah under the direction of Metcalf Mortuary (435) 673-4221. Condolences may be sent through the Metcalf Web site at www.metcalfmortuary.com. Celia Brown 1942-2004 Celia Griffiths Brown passed away in St. George, UT, on December 21, 2004, after a long battle with cancer. She was born to Margaret and Reginald Griffiths on May 19, 1942, in Salt Lake City. Celia attended Highland High School. On December 3, 1960, she married Michael D. Brown. She worked for Smith's Food Stores for 30 years. She is survived by her husband; one very special son, Travis M. Brown; one super brother, Ron Griffiths and his wife, Sharon; niece and nephew Dana and Gregg, and their families and two lifetime true friends, Kathy and Bonnie, and her special dogs. "I'll be waiting in the Mineral Mountains, Travis, to find the crystals and for Ron to look for petroglyphs. I love you all; sorry to leave so soon." Celia had a great love for the Indian rock art culture and spent hundreds of hours seeking them out. Graveside services will be held Monday, December 27, at 11 a.m. at Mt. Olivet Cemetery, 1342 East 500 South, under the direction of Larkin Mortuary. The family requests, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Humane Society or the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, 5001 Angel Canyon Rd., Kanab, Utah 84741. Thelma Eleanor Hayes Collins Thelma Eleanor Hayes Collins, 97, died Thursday in St. George, where she had been recovering from a short illness. She was born November 29, 1907, in Eureka, Utah, the daughter of George and Mary Elvera Hayes. Her family moved to Provo, where she spent the rest of her life. She married Reed "Lob" Collins in June of 1926. They marriage was later solemnized in the St. George LDS Temple. Lob preceded her in death in 1991. Thelma was a great cook and was well known for her cherry pie. She was a member of the LDS Church, and attended the Provo Fifth Ward for 65 years. She is survived by two daughters, Mrs. Grant (Sue) Speed of Lindon; and Mrs. Kent (Ann) Garrett of St. George; seven grandchildren and fifteen great-grandchildren; one sister, Renee Pearson Hedquist (Ab) of St. George; two brothers, Jack E. Strong and Robert Q. Strong, both of Provo. She was preceded in death by her husband, a brother, Doyle, and by a granddaughter, Peggy Sue. Funeral services will be held Tuesday, December 28, 2004, at 11:00 a.m., in the Berg Drawing Room Chapel, 185 East Center Street, Provo. Friends may call at the Mortuary, Monday evening, from 6-8 p.m., or Tuesday morning, one hour prior to services. Interment, Provo City Cemetery. LaNay Edwin Felsted Born December 5, 1911-Died December 17, 2004 LaNay Edwin "Nick" Felsted, 93, passed away on December 17, 2004 in Fargo, North Dakota. He was born on December 5, 1911, in Thomas, Idaho. He was the fourth child of Peter Christian Felsted and Martha Abanatha Parsons Felsted. Nick is survived by his son, Ronald Felsted of White Hall, Maryland, and his daughter, Darlene Farmer of Fargo, North Dakota, and 14 grandchildren and 30 great grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his wife of 68 years Marjorie Afton Taylor, by his parents and his brother Harold Felsted, his sister, Grace Felsted Lowe and two siblings who died in infancy, Oral Louisa Felsted and Ronald Felsted. Nick grew up in Preston, Idaho and moved to Logan, Utah for his senior year in high school. He graduated in 1931. He graduated from Utah State Agricultural College with a degree in Civil Engineering in 1936. He met his wife Marjorie while attending high school in Preston. They were married November 8, 1934 in Salt Lake City. Their marriage was later sealed in the Logan temple in 1937. He worked for the Utah State Department of Agriculture, and the US Geological Service. In October 1940, he received a permanent Civil Service appointment with the Geological Survey Topographic Division located in Sacramento, California. They lived in Sacramento for 35 years. The Secretary of the Interior froze Nick in his position so he could not be drafted during World War II in order that he might survey unmapped regions of the Northern California Pacific coast in preparation for a feared Japanese invasion. Nick had field assignments in Arizona, Nevada, Idaho and various locations in California while maintaining their residence in Sacramento. In 1956, Nick resigned from the US Geological Service and started work with the California State Department of Water Resources. He was privileged to be a part of the planning and construction of the California aqueduct, a 20-year project that transports large quantities of water from Northern California to the Los Angeles area..This project was the largest single plan undertaken and the aqueduct was the longest constructed. Construction got under way in about 1963. Nick was involved with mapping, right of way acquisition surveys, and relocation surveys. His work kept him away from home on weekdays.After retirement in 1979, Nick and Marjorie moved back to Logan, Utah. In later years, they moved to St. George, Utah until ill health caused them to move back to Logan. After Marjorie's death in February 2003, Nick moved to Fargo North Dakota to live with his daughter Darlene and his son-in-law, Val Farmer. Nick has been active in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He has served as a stake missionary, financial clerk and in various other callings. Nick was extremely handy and was active in renovating the various homes where he lived. He enjoyed gardening, the outdoors, and was a devoted father and grandfather. He particularly enjoyed his group of church friends in the Sacramento area and was socially involved with them for more than 30 years. A funeral service will be held at 11:00 a.m. Tuesday, December 28, 2004, at the LDS church at 400 East 1850 North in North Logan, Utah. Funeral arrangements are being handled by the Allan-Cranney Mortuary. There will be viewings at the Mortuary, 420 East 1800 North, North Logan, on Monday evening, Dec. 27 from 6-8 pm and at the Church on Tuesday morning, Dec. 28 from 9:30-10:30 am. Interment will be in the Logan City Cemetery.