Irma Witt

Irma Elkington Witt

2/2/1931 – 2/19/2022

A life lived in service is a life well lived.

Our beloved mother, Irma Elkington Witt, was welcomed into the arms of her loving husband in the early morning hours of February 19, 2022. The two reunited in heaven after a nine-year, nineteen-day separation during which Mom missed her sweetheart every single day. While we are heartbroken at her passing, we rejoice in their long-awaited reunion and the continuation of their beautiful love story.

Mom was born in the small town of Grantsville, Utah, on February 2, 1931, to Ruth Ratcliffe Clark and Vaughn Elkington. She spent her summers pulling weeds on irrigation day in endless rows of vegetables with her sisters Nadine and Ruth, and her baby brother, Grant. She walked to and from school twice a day, coming home to choke down a warm bowl of tomato soup at lunch. She loved school, especially reading, where she developed a life-long love of learning.

Her deepest desire as a young girl was to be allowed to wear a pair of jeans. That dream was finally realized when she moved out of the family home. She must not have enjoyed those jeans as much as she thought she would, because she didn’t wear them often.

When she was in high school, Mom joined a double quartet as an alto. The group sang at various events around Tooele, and she spoke often of the time they were asked to sing in the Tabernacle on Temple Square in Salt Lake City. She played clarinet in the marching band, participated in school plays, served in student government, and loved hanging out with her many friends.

After a broken engagement, Mom was asked to serve a mission. Though she initially was not excited to go, she was grateful for the opportunity throughout the rest of her life. While serving in the Great Lakes Mission, working in the mission home, Mom became acquainted with Elder Witt—an outgoing young missionary from Nephi, Utah. Dad looked her up when he returned home from his mission at the request of the mission president’s wife—who must have had an inkling that they would be good together—and they were married a few months later on June 27, 1955.

Mom and Dad loved each other fiercely. With all the adventures that came with raising five rambunctious children, they built a life centered on faith in Jesus Christ, supporting each other through illness, job changes, injuries, financial difficulties, and all the typical trials life deals out. When Dad was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, Mom helped shoulder the load as they carried that burden together. She was his primary caregiver for over forty years, and we are so eternally grateful for that selfless service she freely gave.

She loved reading, singing, crocheting, knitting, quilting, cooking, bread-making, and sewing, and she was a master storyteller. She also loved gummy orange slices, peanut butter cups, peanuts, peanut brittle, warm bread, and potatoes baked any which way—especially browned around a juicy pork roast. Mom loved the Lord, her husband, books, and her children. In that order. We knew growing up that if Mom was reading one of her beloved books, we had to tap her on the arm to get her attention. Hard.

Mom was preceded in death by her sweetheart, Leonard, her sisters Lois, Nadine, and Ruth, and several brothers- and sisters-in law. She is survived by her brother, Grant (Nedra), her children, Karen (Terry) Irick, Vaughn (Donna), James (Tanya), Marilyn (Bruce) Bunderson, and Julie, seventeen grandchildren, their spouses, and thirteen great-grandchildren. She and Dad have built a legacy of love that we will carry on through generations. We love you, Mom, you lived your life well.

The funeral will be on Saturday, February 26, 2022, at 11:00 a.m. at Davis-Playle-Hudson-Rimer Funeral Home, 2100 E. Shepherd Ave., Kirksville, MO, 63501, with a viewing from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to NEMO Senior Citizens Services, www.nemoseniorcitizens.org , who provided invaluable services to help keep mom home in her final years.