Melba Chaffin Armstrong

Melba Chaffin Armstrong was born September 5, 1927 in Blackfoot, Idaho and returned to her Heavenly Father on October 22, 2018, in Hyde Park, Utah. Her parents were Alma Leroy Chaffin and Margret Emmeline Wilson Chaffin. Having two older brothers, she was quite the tomboy and could ride horses with the best. When her younger sister was born 9 years after her, she was very excited and they have been the best of friends. Being raised on a farm she learned to work hard and did so her entire life. She was a school teacher by profession and loved her students very much. She began her teaching career in Franklin, Idaho. She married Hamilton “Gene” Loveland, Jr. in March of 1949. Gene was killed in a logging accident in April, 1956. They had one daughter Dona Jean. Melba married James Albert Armstrong in the Idaho Falls Temple in June of 1958. 10 months later Joy was born. Melba taught school in the Blackfoot School District for many years. She loved teaching the Native American children. She also enjoyed helping those who had a harder time learning. She loved all of her students very much and they knew that she did. Anyone who attended Stalker Elementary or Irving Kindergarten Center knew her as the witch at the front of the Halloween Parade. She loved Halloween and decorated her home for all of the holidays. Melba retired from teaching while living in Blackfoot. She moved to North Logan, Utah in August of 2006 after Jim passed. She lived at Pioneer Valley Lodge until November 2017. She loved the friends she made there and out lived many of them which was very hard for her. When it got to the point that she could no longer live on her own she moved to Autumn Care in Hyde Park, Utah and lived there for almost a year. Melba was an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and served faithfully in many callings. She loved to travel, make divinity at Christmas and make raspberry jam. She spent a lot of time in her yard with her flowers and raspberries. While living at Pioneer Valley Lodge she enjoyed playing Rummikub with her friends and having her nails done. She was a good example to her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren and loved each one of them very much. We will miss her smile and candy dish full of root beer barrels not to mention all of the other things we love about her. Melba is survived by her sister Evonna Hammon, Blackfoot, Idaho, her two daughters, Dona (Thomas) Wilkinson, Smithfield, UT and Joy (Patrick) Dunyon, Pasco, WA, 7 grandchildren, their spouses and 10 great grandchildren. Also, several nieces and nephews. She is having a joyful reunion with her parents, husbands, two brothers, Allen Chaffin, Napa, CA and Bert Chaffin, St. Helens, OR and many other family members and friends. Thank you to the doctor she loved and who took such good care of her, Dr. Brian Carlson and to all of those who did the same at Pioneer Valley Lodge and Autumn Care.
Funeral services will be held Saturday, October 27, 2018 at 1:00 p.m. in the Blackfoot 10th Ward Chapel, 900 Riverton Rd. Friends may call at the church from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. prior to services. Interment will be in the Rose Hill Cemetery, Idaho Falls, Idaho. Condolences may be sent to the family online at www.nelsonfuneralhome.com .