The following are obituaries and death notices that appeared in the April 9, 2010 edition of the Star Valley Independent.

Ruth Heap Nield Benson passed away in her home on March 31, 2010 with her family surrounding her. Ruth was born in Thayne on July 30, 1924.  She was the eighth of 10 children born to Henry and Olive Heap.   Ruth attended grade school in Thayne and graduated from Star Valley High in May of 1942.  She met the love of her life, Van Lathair Nield, the November before her graduation and knew right away he was the man she would marry.  On Aug. 17, 1942 Ruth and Lathair were married in the Salt Lake City LDS Temple.   Ruth and Lathair were blessed with five children.  Kaye (Ernold) Coates; Bonnie (Jerry) Harmon; Dan (Louise) Nield; Jerry (Cindy) Nield and Jean (Dickson) Smith.    Lathair passed away after 20 wonderful years together.  Ten years later Ruth married Lamont Benson and moved to Smithfield, Utah where she lived until 2000.   She then moved to Pioneer Valley Retirement then Legacy House in Logan. She had many friends at both facilities and will be greatly missed.   Ruth is preceded in death by her parents, two husbands, seven brothers, one sister, one great grandson and one great granddaughter.   She is survived by one sister, Elaine Dana; two sisters-in-law, Una Heap; and Naoma Soelberg; five children, 22 grandchildren, 60 great grandchildren and three great great grandchildren.    A viewing was held at Schwab Mortuary in Afton, Wyoming on Sunday April 4, 2010 from 5-7 p.m. and again Monday, April 5 prior to services at the Afton Tabernacle from 10:00 – 10:45 a.m.  Funeral services began at 11 a.m. April 5.

Ruth Fackrell Stokes, age 85, passed away Thursday, April 1, 2010, in Brigham City, Utah, with her family by her side.  She was born Feb.17, 1925, in Tremonton, Utah, to Israel Hoyt and Mary Elma Nessen Fackrell, the third of nine children raised on a farm in Howell, Utah.   After graduation from Bear River High School in 1943, she moved to Salt Lake City and worked at Hill Field repairing bomb racks and releases for World War II aircraft.  On June 5, 1944, she married Chester William Stokes in the Logan Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  After seven years on the family farm in Boothe Valley, Promontory, Utah, they purchased a dairy farm in Bedford and operated it together while raising their family.  After Chester’s death in 1985, Ruth continued helping on the farm until 1994, when she moved to Box Elder and Cache Counties in Utah to be nearer her children.  Ruth served in many callings in the LDS Church, including nearly 30 years as meetinghouse librarian.  Despite trials of health, she enjoyed doing genealogy and compiling family history, making quilts and afghans for her children and grandchildren, driving farm equipment, sewing and tailoring, carpentry and cabinetmaking, reading, fabric and oil painting, and writing stories and poetry and cowboy poetry.  Ruth is survived by five children: Lew (Vickie) Stokes, Utah; Jim (Ann) Stokes, Utah; Reed (Colleen) Stokes, Idaho; Linda (Clair) Anderson, Utah; and Scott (Schanda) Stokes, Montana; 29 grandchildren and 40 great-grandchildren.  Also surviving are four brothers: Dale (Fern); Arv (Luana); Dave (Dalene); and Dean (Pam) Fackrell, all of Utah; three sisters: Marva (DeVere – who is also Chester’s brother) Stokes, Utah; Gwen (Mariner) Munk, Utah; and Myrna Bunnell, Florida; and two sisters-in-law: Rosalie Wells and Vleria Torbenson, both of Utah.    She was preceded in death by her husband, Chester Stokes; two children, Carl Stokes and Ileen Stokes; and one sister, Dona Grover.  Funeral services will be held Saturday, April 10, 2010, at 11 a.m. at the Brigham City Utah North Stake Center, 620 North 300 East, Brigham City, Utah.  Visitation for friends and family will precede the funeral from 9:30-10:30 a.m.  A graveside service will be held that afternoon at 4 p.m. at the Bedford Cemetery.

Shane Alexander “Alex” Bagley, son of Shane and Katie Bagley, passed away on Tuesday, April 6, 2010.  A viewing for Alex will be held Saturday, April 10 at 11:30 a.m. with funeral services started at 1 p.m. at the Osmond LDS Church.

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