Verna Clare Bloom Eshelman, 83, wife, mother, grandmother and sister, passed away peacefully on May 4, 2014, in Friday Harbor, Wash., surrounded by the love of her family.

Verna Clare was born on Oct. 22, 1930, in Curwensville, Pa., where she learned to ice skate on a frozen pond, was voted prettiest in her class, and graduated valedictorian of her high school in 1948.

During high school Verna Clare was head cheerleader and worked in the local drug store serving sodas, where Tom spent many happy afternoons courting her. They were married on Sept. 6, 1948.

She was active in the Methodist Church, as a member of the choir and taught bible school. Verna Clare, Tom, and their family moved to Logan, Utah, in 1964. Following her diagnosis with Alzheimer’s, Verna Clare and Tom moved to Friday Harbor, in 2009, to be close to family.

While in Logan, Verna Clare was an active member of the First Presbyterian Church, where she was an officer, a home-visitor, and sang in the choir.  She was a member of PEO, a hospice volunteer, and served on the planning & zoning commission. Verna Clare was an avid sewer and quilter, loved playing the piano, and could be found most summer mornings in the garden. Verna Clare will be remembered for her amazing pies and for her unfailing kindness and innate sense of fairness. We will all miss her ready smile.

Verna Clare is survived by her loving husband, Thomas Eshelman, her children: June (Jeannine Spicer), Ansel (Desiree), Wayne (Deborah), Diane (Ken Staub), and Jennifer (Mark Flores), her grandchildren: Amy, Nick, Hannah, Marga, Kyle, Colin, Alissa, Ansel and Elijah, and her brother, Gordon Bloom. Verna Clare was preceded in death by her son Harold (1970), father Ansel Bloom, mother Caroline Williams Bloom, sister Norma Bloom Cramer, and brother Monroe Bloom.

A memorial service will be held later this year, when her ashes will be put to rest at the Logan Cemetery, next to her son Harold.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in Verna Clare’s memory to any hospice organization.

— Family of Verna Clare Eshelman