Verda Idona McFarlane

Loving wife, mother, grandmother, sister, and friend passed away at the age of 84. Verda was born 5 Dec. 1938 in her grandmother’s home in Ephraim UT to Verdus and Georgia Briggs Olsen, she passed away 1 Jan. 2023 in her home in Philomath OR. She is survived by her husband, Craig McFarlane, sister, Shirley Packham, six children, and 24 grandchildren. As a child, she was raised in Ogden, UT, and Southern CA. This included battling a Polio infection at five years old in the Los Angeles County Hospital. She attended Ogden Junior and High Schools, but moved to Clearfield, UT during her Senior year to graduate from Davis High School. As a student at the University of Utah, she met and married Craig McFarlane, in the Salt Lake Temple, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. They remained in love and true to each other for over 62 years. Her children are Sean Snow - Salt Lake City UT, Daniel (married to Susan) McFarlane - Reading MA, Trudi (married to Gary) Brown - Carlisle PA, Angie (married to Owen) Brown - Stockton CA, John (married to Kirstin) McFarlane - Okinawa Japan, and Robert (married to Lindsay) McFarlane - Temecula CA. She is also a proxy mother to foreign exchange student Dennis (married to Ida) Hyrup - Hillerod Denmark. As a devoted Christian, Verda served in many local church assignments as teacher and leader, especially for the youth, sharing her love of Christ and helping others learn how to do the same. This included writing a monthly letter with personal stories embedded with gospel topics. For many years Verda suffered with chronic pain, resulting from Post-Polio Syndrome. Visitors often left unaware of her pain, as she strove to focus on the person instead of her own discomfort. Her disposition was a blessing to herself and all she interacted with. She was a published writer and poet, and lived in Utah, California, Nevada, Germany and Oregon. She enjoyed movies, comedy, genealogy, dancing, reading, singing, skiing, jogging, bowling, the Oregon Coast Aquarium, and was the 10 millionth entrant to Disneyland in 1970, where she received a life-time pass to all Disney parks for herself and three guests. She loved the adventure of travel which included over 20 countries across North America, Central America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Polynesia, China, Thailand, and Australia. Wherever she went, she easily made friends, including many of you reading this obituary. Services will be held at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (150 James St., Philomath, OR) on Saturday, January 7, 2023. Viewing at 10 am PT, Funeral at 11 am PT, followed by burial at the Pleasant Valley Cemetery (near 23623 Alsea Hwy, Philomath OR). The funeral will be broadcast on Zoom: Jan 7, 2023, 11 am PT, https://zoom.us/j/94902255982?pwd=ZTkycUdTbnVDMklPOW00WDNvcXIyZz09 Meeting ID: 949 0225 5982, Passcode: 669052, +1-346-248-7799, 94902255982#, *669052# US

Tributes

Verda Idona McFarlane

December 5, 1938 - January 1, 2023