Hope Deming

It is with profound sadness that that we announce the passing of our beloved mother, grandmother, great grandmother, sister, aunt and dear friend.

Hope Marie King Deming, lifelong resident of Bruneau, passed away at the Long Term Care Unit of the Elmore Memorial Hospital in Mountain Home on Friday, Sept. 30, 2011. She was 85 years old.

Graveside services will be at the Bruneau Cemetery on Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2011, at 11 a.m. Cake, coffee and punch will be served after the services at the Bruneau Legion Hall. Arrangements are under the direction of Rost Funeral Home, McMurtrey Chapel.

Hope was born March 18, 1926, the fourth daughter of Ted and Esther King of Little Valley.

She attended the small one room Little Valley School located just below the hill from the home where she was born and raised. Her Aunt Peggy King was her teacher. Hope attended high school in Bruneau.

As a young girl, Hope worked the family farm along with her father, mother and sisters. Although, times were hard for the King family, they persevered and they all moved on to easier times.

It was while working in the hay fields, she met her future husband, Grant, the son of a neighboring farmer. He proposed to her on top of the Bruneau Sand Dunes. They were later married on Nov. 22, 1943, in the Bruneau Congregational Church Parsonage and moved to their own farm in Little Valley on Jackšs Creek.

She committed herself to the role of wife and mother, for which we, her family, are forever grateful. Throughout much of her life, she worked side by side with Grant, as they raised their family and worked their farm.

As her children grew, she took a very active role in their activities, serving as a room mother, Brownie Scout Leader, Cub Scout Den Mother and assistant 4-H Club leader.

Hope enjoyed reading adventure stories to her children from the monthly installments of Life and Post magazines.

She loved to spend time socializing with her family and friends and she always looked forward to the large family reunions that took place every summer at the King ranch in Little Valley.

Hope loved the beauty of flowers and the sound of music.

Hope worked for a short time at the Little Valley Dairy and while there, she would bring home the bull calves and scrawny heifer calves and raise them.

This was the beginning of a small herd of cattle that was to sustain the Deming family for many years to come.

In later years, Hope was employed as a bus driver for the Bruneau Grand View School District. She held this position for 23 years, for which she took great pride with her accomplishments and the responsibilities that came with her job.

Hope accepted the challenges and triumphs of her life with grace and dignity.

The years passed and the children moved on.

In the late '60s, Grant suffered his first heart attack. He was continually plagued with heart problems and eventually had to have open-heart surgery.

The surgery saved his life, but he could no longer farm and eventually the farm was sold. They moved to a small acreage of land east of Jackšs Creek that was not sold with the original farm. This is where Hope and Grant settled into a quieter chapter of their lives and into a well-deserved retirement.

Grant passed away in November 1985.

Coming from a large family of six sisters and one brother, Hope was well prepared for a large family of her own. She is survived by, and will be greatly missed, by her six children ­ Kay Seegrist of Bruneau; Ron Deming (wife Jennifer) of Stafford, Va.; Marge Willis (husband Rich) of Oxnard, Calif.; Gary Deming of Grand View; Curt Deming of Bruneau and Bev Coffman of Grand View. Along with several nieces and nephews, Hope was also the proud grandmother of 12 grandchildren, 24 great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren. She is also survived by her sisters, Ruby Ward, Bobbe Plunkett and Bonnie South, and brother David King.

Hope was preceded in death by her husband, Grant, parents Ted and Esther King, her three sisters, Thelma Rubelt, Dorothy Bee and Bette Aslett, and granddaughter Wendy Deming.

Mom, we love you, we will miss you and you will be forever in our hearts and in our thoughts.

Memorials may be made to the Bruneau Quick Response, PO Box 294, Bruneau, ID 83604, the Bruneau Library, PO Box 278, Bruneau, ID 83604, or an organization of your choice.