Eldra Garber

Eldra Jean Draper Garber (“Jean”)

FRUIT HEIGHTS – Eldra Jean Draper Garber (“Jean”), our beloved mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, passed away peacefully Sunday, March 9, 2014, of Alzheimer’s.  Her passing was preceded by three days of amazing alertness; we were blessed to enjoy our sweet smiling Mom again before she was called home.

Jean was born in 1921 in Wellington, Utah, the youngest of eight children of Walter Nephi and Clara Maude Critchlow Draper.  At age 13, she lost her mother to cancer.  Following study at Stevens-Henager College, this timid farm girl moved by herself to Seward, Alaska, where she worked for the Army Corps of Engineers.  She excelled in business administration.  Later, she moved to San Francisco, where she met Army Air Corps lieutenant Harold (“Jan”) Garber.  They married in 1950, and were blessed with two daughters and two sons.  Jan passed in 2010.

She is survived by sons Gregg (Cheryl) and Kirk, five grandchildren; Bradley (Kathryn), Cameron (Shannon), Dallin, Quinn (Brooke), and Tiana, and eight great-grandchildren.

Jean was an amazing mom and grandma; she was so loving and supportive, and so interested in the details of our lives.  Jean is a woman of great faith and humility.  She lost two baby daughters to accident and illness and silently endured other heavy trials over the course of her life, and through it all, remained patient, humble and positive.  She served in numerous positions in the LDS Church with love and dedication.  Her quick laugh, courage and humble faith have inspired us all and will continue to inspire us for generations.

Finally, our deepest gratitude to dear friend Tami Grant for her loving care, to her devoted visiting teachers Mary Call and Barbara Willey and to the dedicated and sensitive folks from Intermountain Hospice.

Funeral services will be held Saturday, March 15, 2014 at 11 a.m. at the Fruit Heights 1st Ward, 900 So. Mountain Road.  Friends may visit family Friday from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. at Lindquist’s Kaysville Mortuary, 400 North Main and Saturday from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. at the church.

Interment, Price City Cemetery at 3:00 p.m.