Edith Florence Whitworth Hubbard

Edith Whitworth Hubbard
1902 ? 2004 She was feisty to the end. Edith Whitworth Hubbard passed away peacefully in her own home on January 27, 2004. Just three weeks shy of her one hundred and second birthday, she complained that she didn?t want another birthday party ? that people shouldn?t fuss over her. Always independent, she lived alone until she was 99, when a bout of pneumonia required her first hospital visit since the birth of her youngest son 57 years earlier. Her other children were born at home. She and her husband, Wesley, who passed away in 1976, had five children: Deon, Verl, Mark, Carol McDonald and Craig. Mark died as an infant and Verl died in 1999. Edith had 22 grandchildren and 36 great-grandchildren. In her 101 years, she used a horse and buggy for many years, remembered the first time she used a telephone as a girl, didn?t hear a radio until she was a young woman but also lived to witness a man on the moon and to marvel at the computer age. She stayed current on world news and before her death commented on the rover sending pictures from Mars. Edith?s parents were both from Brigham City, then moved to Chesterfield, Idaho to homestead. They raised seven girls and two boys. Edith?s two living siblings are Herbert Whitworth Boise, ID and Nora Johnson Idaho Falls, ID. Edith was both a student and teacher all her life. She graduated from high school at Brigham Young College in Logan in 1922 and attended Idaho Tech in Pocatello for summer school and to earn a teaching certificate. In the fall of 1922 she started to teach the first four grades at a two-room school in Niter, Idaho. She married Wesley W. Hubbard on February 1, 1924 in the Logan LDS Temple and one week later he left for an LDS mission to New York City. She joined him in the mission field during the summer of 1925 and attended Columbia University for a six week summer school while she was there. After their return to Niter, Edith continued to teach for another year and became involved in many activities. She always loved learning, teaching and writing and was involved in the Literary Club, Daughters of Utah Pioneers and the LDS Church, where she served for 31 years in the Bannock Stake Grace, ID Relief Society, including many years as president. She spent 45 years at Niter, raising her family and farming and ranching with her husband?s family, who also operated a saw mill. Life on the farm was hard work with children to care for, a large garden to keep up and cooking for many men who worked on the farm and at the mill. Her life became a little easier when ? at about age 30 ? electricity was finally brought to the farm house. About that time, they were able to add indoor plumbing to the home as well. Her three sons served in the military and her four children attended Utah State University, served LDS missions and were married in the Logan Temple. When Wesley lost his eyesight in 1964, they moved to Logan, where she cared for him. They spent ten winters in Mesa, Arizona where Wesley could get outside and exercise and also spent time during the summer at Bonners Ferry, Idaho on the relocated family farm. On their trips to Mesa and around town, Edith did the driving, but Wesley still liked to navigate. Through the years, and especially after she was widowed, Edith kept an immaculate house and yard, made quilts for her grandchildren, and always seemed to have her famous gingersnap cookies on hand when they came to visit. She was always busy with her Special Interest Group and many other projects. She was an excellent journal writer and over the past few years, she and her family have enjoyed going back to her firsthand account of the many happenings of her life. At age 90, she was spunky enough to go on Space Mountain ? a wild ride at Disney World. Never one to sit around, her greatest frustration of the last few years was not being able to do the many things she had always done. All her life she learned, she worked hard and lately she fretted at her limitations. Free at last! Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. Saturday, January 31, 2004 at Nelson Funeral Home, 162 East 400 North, Logan. Friends and family may call Friday evening, January 30, from 6 to 8 p.m. and Saturday morning from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. prior to services. A memorial service will be held at 3:00 p.m. Saturday, January 31 at the Williams Ward Chapel, Niter, Idaho preceding interment in the Grace City Cemetery. Condolences to the family may be extended online at www.nelsonfuneralhome.com .