Mary Walton

Mary L. Walton slipped away from us and went to meet her parents, siblings, 2 children and husband on July 3, 2011 after a long illness at Logan Rehab Center.

Mary was born March 31, 1923, at home in Hyrum Utah, the eleventh of 12 children of the late Marion and Caroline Jessop of Hyrum. She loved growing up on the farm and preferred riding horses to house work.

She outlived her parents, husband, 5 brothers and 6 sisters along with an unnamed baby and a son Carl Eric Walton. She had 5 children, and is survived by 3 of them:
Bert John Walton (Donna), of Logan, Utah
Susan Mary Walton Jackson (Paul) of Hyrum, Utah
Denise Jeanine Walton Maughan (Kevin) of Hyrum, Utah

She is also survived by 11 grandchildren, John Walton of Idaho; Michael T. Stillion of Atlanta, Georgia; Cameron D. Stillion of Seattle, Washington, Michele D. Merrill of Logan, Utah; Daniel D. Stillion of Ithaca, New York; James F. Stillion of Seattle, Washington; Stephanie Maughan Carlsen of Hyrum, Utah; Jennifer Maughan of St. George, Utah, Nicholas Maughan of Dalles, Oregon; Brittany Pignataro of Nibley, Utah; Kelsey Saterfield of Logan, Utah and 22 great grandchildren.

Mary lived in Hyrum most of her life, and also in California, Michigan, Arkansas, New York, Kentucky and Germany. Mary graduated from South Cache High School in 1940. She played the clarinet in the marching band. She married John (Jay) A. Walton in 1941. Their marriage was later solemnized in the Logan LDS temple in 2004. They lived for a time in Blacksmith Fork canyon at the power plant where Jay was employed. It is now the A.J. Park. She loved to fish there and spent many warm days with her 2 oldest children fishing.

Jay was called to serve in WW II for four years and was stationed in Germany for a year. Mary and their two oldest children lived in Germany for that year. After that they moved to Michigan where they lived for 8 years and had 2 more children

Mary and Jay sang together while Jay played the guitar throughout their marriage at parties, on the radio and always at family gatherings.

Mary moved back to Hyrum, Utah in 1964 where she worked at USU Merrill library in Logan for 27 years in the documents division helping hundreds of students and received many awards of recognition. She retired in 1992. As a single parent she worked hard to provide a living.

Mary was active in the LDS church. She has had various jobs at church, teaching in Primary, and working in the Library. At the time of her passing she was the adult Sunday school class president and loves to meet the new people and make everyone feel comfortable. She also spent 20 years attending the temple doing sealing’s every day that the temple was open.

As a child Mary loved to ride horses an always rode bareback. She had a race horse and was bucked off many times, but always got right back on the horse. She is very artistic and drew pictures and painted. She has always been crafty.

Mary learned the value of hard work being raised on a farm. She taught us to save for a rainy day being raised in the depression and never throwing anything away, but using it up or making something out it. Mary has always had a green thumb and grew many flowers and vegetables in her yard. She owned a Christmas cactus that is over 50 years old and it bloomed every year for her and sometimes twice a year. She was stubborn to a fault. She taught us many truths: It is not what others think, but what you know to be true that matters; you may as well be happy as sad, because at least you will feel better.

Mary was extremely adventurous. She always loved the rollo plane and roller coaster
at fairs and has taken rides in helicopters, piper cubs, motorcycles, sloops and balloon rides. She has walked through caves in Kentucky and vacationed in Hawaii and Canada. She’s never been afraid to do something that looked dangerous and in fact reveled in doing them.

In her later years, Mary enjoyed sitting in the gazebo or the dining room window and watching the birds eat from the 3 bird feeders in the back yard. Mary especially loved butterflies. She adorned her home with butterflies.

She enjoyed having visitors and watching her favorite shows, Bones, CSI and Ghost Whisperer. Mary had a Yorkshire Terrier named Molly that was her constant companion sitting on her lap at least 8 hours a day and would hide on her bed when she was not home to wait for her to return. Of her life she said “She is happy and life is good”. The last few years of Mary’s life she talked about going for another balloon ride when she became 90. Mary was a daredevil and we think she’s off riding in a balloon today with the butterflies and birds she loved so much. We hope you get to do that too.

We love you and miss you mother.....from all your children and grand children and great-grand children.

Funeral services will be held at 12:00 PM on Saturday, July 9, 2011 in the Hyrum 13th Ward Chapel, 176 South 1300 East in Hyrum. A viewing will be held on Friday evening from 6:00 to 8:00 PM at the Allen-Hall Mortuary, 34 East Center Street in Logan, and prior to services on Saturday at the church from 10:30 to 11:30 AM. Interment will be in the Hyrum City Cemetery. Condolences may be sent to the family at www.allenmortuaries.net . Friends and family are invited to a luncheon immediately after at the 12th Ward Chapel in Hyrum.