Elma Fraughton

Elma Thompson Fraughton

Elma Thompson Fraughton, age 94, passed away in Kaysville, Utah on September 11, 2012 from complications of thyroid cancer.

Elma was born in 1918 in Georgetown, Idaho to Abraham Martin and Mabel Larsen Thompson.

The fourth of eight children on a farm, Elma had fond memories of cutting flower pictures from seed catalogs to make valentine cards and less fond memories of the family''s winter vegetable storage poking up through her straw mattress. The carrot and bread puddings Elma loved growing up reappeared in the baking she did for her own family, and her childhood Christmas tradition of putting oranges in the toes of the stockings is still enjoyed by many great-grandchildren.

Elma was a capable student, completing sixth and seventh grade in a single year. After graduating first in her high school class, she attended Utah State, where she met Dee Fraughton at a dance in 1937. Dee proposed in Georgetown that Christmas, unaware that Elma''s three younger brothers were spying on them the whole time. The couple married on June 24, 1938 in the Salt Lake Temple and moved that fall to Provo, where Elma completed her bachelor''s degree in Secretarial Science at BYU. Appendicitis struck Elma in May 1939, so Dee attended the graduation ceremony in her place. She always said she felt a little cheated!

After a move to Ogden, Elma gave birth to a son in 1941. Over the next twelve years, spent in Idaho, New York and California, they added five daughters to their family. During their twenty-six years in San Diego, the Fraughtons enjoyed family outings, passed along their surplus avocados to neighbors, and worked hard at school and chores. In appreciation of Elma''s tireless work, Dee taught the children to cheer "the sweetest mother in the world" every night at the dinner table.

Following Dee''s retirement from the defense industry, he and Elma moved to Utah with Karen, their youngest daughter. The couple served joyfully for sixteen years as Provo Temple workers. In 1997, after three years of loving care from Elma, Karen, his son-in-law Jim and others, Dee succumbed to pneumonia aggravated by Parkinson''s disease. Five years later, Elma and Karen moved from Orem to Kaysville, where Elma has benefitted from her daughter Kaye''s watchful care for the last decade. The family is incredibly grateful. Sincere thanks also to Lindsey and her caring team from Advocate Hospice.

Elma is survived by her children Max (Margarete) Fraughton, Sue Pratley, Kaye Nielson, DeeAnn (Jim) Hathorne, Jane (Steve) Turley, and Karen Fraughton; 24 grandchildren and 53 great-grandchildren; and her brother Gary (Ruth) Thompson. She was preceded in death by her husband, Dee, her parents and six of her siblings.

Funeral services will be held Saturday, September 15, 2012 at 11 a.m. at the Kaysville 10th Ward, 1039 Crestwood Road, Kaysville, UT. Friends may visit family on Saturday from 9:30 to 10:45 a.m. at the church.

Interment, Heber City Cemetery.

Services entrusted to Lindquist''s Layton Mortuary, 1867 No. Fairfield Road.