Donna Louise Benson Edlefsen

Donna Louise Benson Edlefsen
1938 - 2011

Donna Louise Edlefsen died on December 9, 2011, at the age of 73, in Salt Lake City, Utah due to complications associated with dementia. The daughter of Serge Nelson Benson and Elizabeth Ruth Horton, she was born April 17, 1938, in Washington D.C. Her early years were spent in Silver Spring, MD. Upon graduation from high school in 1956, she traveled west to attend Utah State Agricultural College (now USU) in her father's home town of Logan. Before enrolling in school, she spent the summer working in Zion National Park. Probably her favorite activity at Utah State was participation in the Sponsor Corps. It was at USAC that she met her husband, James Lauritz Edlefsen, a graduate student from Boise, ID. They were married September 2, 1959, in the Logan Temple. After honeymooning in Jackson, WY, they settled in their first home - a log cabin in the Boise National Forest.

Her husband's career with the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management took them to Idaho, Arizona, Maryland, and Wyoming. Following his retirement in 1987, they moved to Utah, living in Brigham City, Deweyville, and North Ogden. An active member of the LDS Church, she held many callings in her wards and stakes, and, with her husband, served as workers in the Logan Temple and as missionaries in the Family History Library. They also spent many years entertaining in nursing homes with their folk music. In addition to her musical talents, Donna was known for her creative abilities such as creating elaborately detailed gingerbread houses and beautifully colored quilts. She was also an accomplished seamstress and possessed masterful cooking skills.

She was preceded in death by her parents and survived by her husband, five children: Tamara Lee, Cheyenne, WY; James Noble (Joan), Rockton, IL; Betty Lynn, Bountiful, UT; Linda Louise, Salt Lake City, UT; Andrew Horton (Lynda), Las Vegas, NV; and five grandchildren. Also surviving are siblings: Sergene Bennion, Provo, UT; Ruth Jaqueline Lehenbauer, Logan, UT; Serge Horton, Logan, UT; Marguerite Fae Whitaker, St. George, UT; and Jan Horton, Logan, UT.

A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, December 17, 2011, at the North Ogden Fifth Ward, 626 E. 2600 N. A viewing will be held on Friday, December 16th from 6 to 8 p.m. at Myers Ogden Mortuary, 845 Washington Blvd. and prior to the service at the church on Saturday, from 9:30 to 10:45 a.m. Interment will be in the Logan Cemetery.

A special thanks to Millcreek Hospice personnel for the kind care they provided Donna. donations can be made to the Alzheimer's Association.
VisitationMyers Mortuary - Ogden
100 Monroe Blvd.
Ogden, UT 84404
December 16, 2011
6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
ServiceNorth Ogden Fifth Ward Chapel
626 East 2600 North
North Ogden, UT
December 17, 2011
11:00 AM
CemeteryLogan City Cemetery
12th East 9th North
Logan, UT
December 17, 2011