![]() ![]() Sharon and Dell also loved to travel Sharon’s travel highlights included visiting 47 states, 7 of 9 Canadian provinces, and 39 national parks. Still, she had a love for beautiful jewelry, and would shine with colorful necklaces and earrings. Sharon was never a flashy person her sparkle came from the inside. She enjoyed playing board games with Dell, as well as with the kids and grandkids. She was a connoisseur of game shows, with a quick wit and speedy answers to ‘Jeopardy’ and ‘Cash Cab’ questions. She was a passionate consumer of the news and loved to stay informed on current events. All her life she cherished her friendships. Sharon was a talented poet, an accomplished seamstress, and a happy baker. ![]() She also loved planting and growing flowers (the scent of lilacs will forever remind us of her). She loved spending time and talking with each grandchild and great-grandchild about their interests, and always had a treat or small surprise on hand for them. For years, she also created hand-made, humorous, uniquely-collaged birthday cards for each and every member of her family. For birthdays, she started a tradition of making “attribute posters,” where she described the best qualities of each family member. She also baked gingerbread houses (from scratch) with elaborate candy decorations. As a young mother, she took cake decorating classes so that she could make fabulous birthday cakes for her children. Sharon celebrated each child and grandchild. ![]() She also supported Dell in all that he did, making it possible for him to travel extensively for his work as editor of the Church News, even though it meant she was often left to raise the kids alone for long stretches. She was present and whole-heartedly cheered for the countless academic, athletic, and other endeavors of her children. She snowmobiled on her family’s farm with her kids. Sharon is also the one who put the kids on horses and rode with them. She brought her love of the great outdoors to her family, and was the parent who taught her kids to fish (including baiting the hook) and to look for the deep, quiet spots in the river to drop the line. Sharon was completely devoted to her family and loved being a mom. Sharon and Dell were married for 63 wonderful years, and together they welcomed six children. After that, she wrangled only kids and their many pets. Upon meeting and marrying the love of her life, Dell Van Orden, in the Idaho Falls Temple, Sharon transitioned to life in the “big city” in Utah. All of these experiences shaped her character and work ethic for the rest of her life. Recent reports from her siblings indicate that even as a child, Sharon was spunky, had a wicked sense of humor, and didn’t take any sass. Sharon adored her parents and her many siblings. Still, there was so much that she loved about farm life, including fishing, riding horses, and rodeos at the Lincoln County Fair in Afton. Sharon also hauled bales of hay, rounded up sheep on horseback without a saddle, and worked on and around the farm equipment. More milking chores awaited them after school, and there wasn’t much time for homework. to help milk the herd of cows by hand in an unheated barn before going to school. It didn’t matter that Sharon was “just a girl” she and her siblings had to rise at 5:00 a.m. It was the wild-wild west, only with none of the glamour. Life on the farm was often difficult, especially growing up in a home with no indoor plumbing. With tender hearts and joyful memories, we mourn the final sunset in the life of our dear wife, mom, grandma, great-grandma, and favorite cowgirl, Sharon Larsen Van Orden.īorn in August 1940 as the second of ten children and raised on her family’s farm in Star Valley, Wyoming, Sharon was an honest-to-goodness cowgirl. ![]()
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