Myrna Jo Dudley Eardley

Myrna Jo Dudley Eardley of Farr West slipped away peacefully on May 17th, 2009 at McKay-Dee Hospital in Ogden from conditions related to kidney failure due to polycystic kidney disease. She was 67. Her life was sustained for the past nine years by kidney dialysis, following the loss, after only three months, of a transplanted kidney received from her sister, Teri Ann Dudley of Bozeman, Montana. Myrna was born in Cut Bank, Montana on November 21, 1941, the second of five children of DeVere Floyd and Jolanda Martha Ehlert Dudley. She spent her early years happily growing up on the wide open plains of Montana, seventeen miles northwest of Cut Bank near the Canadian border. Harsh winters were made tolerable by summer''s ever-changing beauty and serenity, where seemingly endless strips of grain stretched in all directions from the Dudley farm to the horizon with northern Montana''s "Big Sky". She married Don Eardley in the Salt Lake Temple on June 6th, 1969 following their introduction at a singles ward at the University of Utah. At the time, both were graduates of Brigham Young University and employed in Salt Lake City. Myrna attended BYU from 1959 to 1963, graduating with a professional business major. After a brief first professional job with Boeing in Seattle, she returned to BYU to complete a second major in Business Education, preparing for a career she grew to love as a secondary teacher. She taught business education and other subjects at Payson High, Orem Jr. High, and Granite High in Salt Lake City before putting her career on hold to be a "stay at home mom". After her three kids were in school, she returned to teaching at Mount Logan Middle School in Logan where she taught reading until retiring in 1998 after a teaching career of 22 years. Myrna and Don raised their family in Utah, beginning with short stays in East Millcreek, Sandy, and North Logan and then for seventeen years in Hyde Park. They moved to Farr West in 1998 when Don retired from public education, and have continued to reside there since. Myrna''s first priority was always her family and friends. She made close friends readily in her career and through hobbies she enjoyed which mostly involved arts, crafts, and flowers. She served faithfully in the church she loved, particularly in the Relief Society. She cared sincerely and deeply for others, and shared in a very personal way their triumphs and tragedies. Active listening and nurturing relationships always took precedence over the other cares of the day. Her interest in others was reciprocated in many wonderful ways. Over the nine years she was on dialysis, Myrna inspired and encouraged other patients, and exemplified how one can live richly and fully despite the challenges of a life on dialysis. She was privileged to be dialyzed in forty different facilities, from her most recent center in Pleasant View just five minutes from her home, to "Dialysis at Sea", to the Blackfoot Indian Reservation dialysis center in Montana, to one in Salzburg, Austria. On her behalf, the family wishes to thank all of the dialysis professionals who so capably assisted her over the years. Myrna leaves behind her husband, Don; a son, David of Westminster, CO; daughters Krista (Todd) Magleby of Layton, UT and Kari (Todd) Wynne of Aurora, CO; three grandchildren Walker, Abigail, and Grace Magleby; one soon-to-be-born granddaughter Kylie Wynne; a brother Jim (Sandy) Dudley of Palmdale, CA; sisters Diana (Jerry) Croft of Cut Bank, MT and Teri (Billy) Dudley of Bozeman, MT. Preceding her in death are her parents, Floyd and Jolanda Dudley and brother Ken Dudley. Funeral services will be held on Thursday, May 21st at 11:00 a.m. at the Farr West First Ward Chapel, 1800 West 1800 North in Farr West, Utah with Bishop Steven Gertsch officiating. Friends and family may call Wednesday from 6 to 8 p.m. at Lindquist''s Roy Mortuary, 3333W. 5600 So. and Thursday from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. at the church. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to the National Kidney Foundation of Utah. e-mail condolences to the family at www.lindquistmortuary.com