Vonda Lee Fletcher Curtis

Vonda Lee Fletcher Curtis was born on May 29, 1930 to Martin Terry Fletcher and Bertha Alice Wardle Fletcher.  She was the 4th of 6 children, Norman, Helen, Lynn, Vonda, Terry, and Marcia.  She lived her entire life on the "Fletcher" homestead.    Her father bought a section and gave each of his children a piece of the property  as they each married. Not only did she keep her property, she purchased her childhood home and property,  and with Clayton worked it for all but the last few years of her life.  

She spent her childhood helping with the cattle, the orchards and the hayfields.  There were many family gatherings there and many meals prepared and served to the threshing crews.  These family and friend gatherings may have sparked her lifelong love of family reunions and making sure the family stays close together.  She kept the minutes and financial records for the Heber George and Susanna Deans Wardle Reunion for well over fifty years .  Memories from Wardle reunions  are precious to all of her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.  She always had everything needed in her "Mary Poppin's trailer."  Anytime someone needed anything on the mountain she would go into the trailer and produce the needed item.  She also produced marvelous meals and hundreds of pounds of dough for making scones over the campfire.  Those scones were buttered and dusted with powdered sugar and have become a tradition that has been  carried on.  She also kept the Martin Terry Fletcher  reunion going for many years.  

She was very active in the Thespian Club and participated in numerous plays and served  on  many committees for High School.  She was a beautiful writer.    She loved to dance and write poetry.  She loved to go for hayrides and had a lifelong love of music.  She was the choir director and chorister for many wards .  She played the piano and organ for many wards and loved playing the organ at the Vernal Temple.

Clayton and Vonda had known each other for many years, but never dated until high school.  They spent many evenings dancing at the Victory Park Dance Hall with their friends.  They were married in the Salt Lake Temple on August 18, 1948

Their  first little house was along the canal near where they would eventually build a new house on the corner. Clayton built the house himself and it would be their home for the rest of their lives.  They were blessed with four children, Dennis Clayton,  Donald Ray, Karen, and Sandra Lee. 

Music  was a big part of their married life. Clayton and Vonda Lee sang for almost thirty years with a double-quartet.  They both learned to play guitar and spent many hours playing and enjoying music together.  She and Clayton were active in the Lion's Club for over fifty years.  She served  as an officer in the Lady Lions Club

In their early married life she worked at JC Penney and then for many years at First Security Bank (now Wells Fargo).  She and Clayton spent years after they  "retired" as custodians for the Golden Age Center and driving the vans for the picnics and excursions .  As a volunteer for the Uintah's Club, she loved decorating the windows at the Golden Age Center every month for the seasons and holidays. She also prepared income tax returns as a volunteer for many years.  She also taught piano lessons  from home at various times. 

 She was an entrepreneur all her life.   She found a special type of sweet corn seed, and had a side business of sharing this unique seed with friends and neighbors which she packaged from the fifty pound bags she ordered.  She participated in other home based businesses.  She found a high quality wood burning stove and sold those.   Through all of this, she also helped Clayton with raising cattle and farming their place. She raised a huge garden every year and the whole family would get together to harvest the "special" sweet corn and package it for freezing.  A favorite memory is cutting corn, eating corn and tomatoes and cucumbers, and spending time together.  

Vonda was active in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day-Saints her entire life.  She held many callings in music, and served in the Relief Society, Primary, Sunday School, and Young Women organizations.  She provided the opportunity for many of her piano students to play music for church meetings and  she taught numerous people how to direct music.

Vonda is preceded in death by her sweetheart Clayton, her parents, her siblings and their spouses, Her daughters- in- law Tina Shearwood Curtis and Jaralee Mace Curtis and great grandaughter  Rebekah LeeAnn Bowman

She is survived by her sister-in-law Rita Lee and her children Dennis Clayton (Rachael) Curtis of Vernal , Donald Ray (Marilyn) Curtis of Logan, UT; Karen (Donald) Schurz of Vernal,  and Sandra Lee (Rocky) Bowman of Henderson, NV,  22 grandchildren,  59 great-grandchildren, and 8 great-great grandchildren and more posterity on the way.

The family would like to give special thanks to the owners and staff of the Beehive Home and Good Shepherd, who have taken such special care of Vonda and Clayton for the last five years.

Funeral services will be held Tuesday, March 5, 2019 at 11:00 AM @ the Glines 1St Ward Chapel (1499 West Hwy 40) The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Viewings will be Monday at the Blackburn & Sons Vernal Mortuary from 6-8 PM and at the Chapel from 9:45 to 10 45 prior to the services. Burial will be in the Maeser Fairview Cemetery. Under the direction of the Blackburn & Sons Vernal Mortuary.