Lovelle (Wheeler) Ashby

| July 8, 2010 1:00 PM

Lovelle (Wheeler) Ashby, 84, passed away peacefully on July 6, 2010 in Quincy after an extended illness.

Lovelle (Wheeler) Ashby, 84, passed away peacefully on July 6, 2010 in Quincy after an extended illness. She was a devoted wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister, aunt, and friend.

She was born on October 16, 1925 in Tucson, AZ to Joseph Edward and Kathina Hazel (Williams) Wheeler. Lovelle spent her early childhood in Mancos, CO, her junior high years in Provo, UT, and her high school years in Nyssa, OR. Lovelle was very active in high school organizations and was a song leader and homecoming queen.

Lovelle married her high school sweetheart, Chet Ashby, on April 5, 1941 in the Logan LDS Temple, and was a devoted member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints all her life.

While Chet served overseas during WWII, Lovelle worked as a tack welder in the ship yards in California. After the war, the couple bought a dairy in Idaho, and later a farm in Idaho. In 1954, Lovelle and Chet sold their farm in Idaho and moved to the Columbia Basin Project in Quincy. Together they bought property, cleared the sage brush, and developed a successful farming business. Lovelle also worked as a telephone operator in Nyssa, OR and Ephrata.

Lovelle adored her family, was a lover of the arts, had a deep appreciate for the beauty of nature, and genuinely cared for others. She was the ultimate “social butterfly,” could talk easily with all people, and made friends wherever she went. Lovelle was a magnificent homemaker.

Lovelle was preceded in death by her parents, a brother, Joseph Elsworth, two sisters, Amanda Hansen and Velva Williams, and a grandson, Glen Ashby.

She is survived by her husband of 68 years, Chet Ashby of Quincy, 2 sons, Jay (Jean) Ashby of Boise, ID and Scott (Shauna) Ashby of Richland, 1 daughter, Janelle Swapp of Quincy, and a sister, Lucy Swensen of Provo, UT. She has 18 grandchildren, and 32 great-grandchildren. She was dearly loved and will be greatly missed.

Funeral services will be held at 11:00 A.M. on Monday, July 12, 2010 at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Quincy. Viewing will be on Monday at the church starting at 10:00 A.M., concluding services will follow in the Quincy Valley Cemetery.

Please sign the guest book or leave a note for the family at www.scharbachs.com.

Scharbach’s Columbia Funeral Chapel in Quincy is in charge of arrangements.