Charlene Simper, 70

Charlene Simper, 70, died Oct. 5, 2005, at Grand View, after a battle against cancer.

Services were held at the Grand View LDS church, on Saturday, Oct. 8. Arrangements were under the directions of Rost Funeral Home, McMurtrey Chapel, Mountain Home.

Charlene was born on Feb. 14, 1935, to Elden Thurgood and Sophia Marguerite Penmen. Elden and Marguerite later divorced and Marguerite married Ralph Child, who later adopted Charlene.

She attended Weber High School in Hooper, Utah, and later moved to Burley, Idaho, where she graduated from Burley High School.

During her junior and senior years of high school she worked at the Farmer's Corner in Burley where she met her future husband, Leon R. Wickel.

Leon and Charlene were married on Feb. 21, 1957, in the Idaho Falls Temple.

Shortly after being married Leon was drafted by the Army and they were sent to Detroit, Mich., where they spent two years. Later they moved to Burley and then to Grand View where they raised their four children, Lon, Michelle, LeIsle, and Rlynn.

In 1975, Leon was killed in a car accident, which left Charlene to raise her four small children, "which she diligently and superbly did for six years by working as a custodian for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints," her family said. "She was a woman of service helping anyone who was in need."

On Oct. 1, 1981, Charlene married Harold Vaughn Simper and, enjoying many years together, the married united two families consisting of, ten children, 49 grandchildren, and 39 great-grandchildren.

Charlene's retirement from the LDS church did not sway her enthusiasm to keep busy and her drive to help others. She opened a craft store in her home where she helped others learn to paint and sew. She eventually closed the store after ten years of serving the public.

Charlene's hobbies included genealogy, quilting, sewing, painting, gardening, and canning. "She used these hobbies to better the lives of the people around her," her family said. "Her grandchildren will remember her for her giving nature and fun they have had crafting with grandma.

"She had an enthusiasm for genealogy work and had many stories to tell about her ancestors. Her love for genealogy work was infectious to the many people that asked for and received her help."

She is survived by: her husband, Vaughn; sons Lon Wickel and his wife, Gloria, of Nephi, Utah, and Rlynn Wickel and his wife, Ronda, of Shelly, Idaho; daughters Michelle Stanbrough and her husband, Jack, of Crownsville, Md., and LeIsle Fisher of Harriman, Utah; her brother, Duane Child and his wife, Gloria, of Portage, Utah; sisters Betty Barlow and her husband, Reid, of Arvada, Colo., and Ann Jenson and her husband, Gene, of Burley; three half-brothers, Steve Thurgood and his wife, Sherral, of Hooper, Utah, Jack Thurgood and his wife, Pamela, of Layton, Utah, and Reed Thurgood and his wife, Susan, of Clearfield, Utah.