Alta Roskelley

Alta Roskelley

July 12, 1914 ~ November 19, 2016

Our beloved Alta Roskelley was finally granted her fondest wish, to be reunited with her eternal companion, on Saturday, November 19, 2016. She was born on July 12, 1914, in Smithfield, Utah. Her parents were John Henry and Hannah Favell Buck Roskelley. Her three sisters, Favell (Plant), Joy (Rasmussen), and Mary Ann (Kerr) were treasured friends and companions throughout her life.

She enjoyed singing and studying ballet as a youth. She was a bright student and completed junior high and high school in Smithfield, graduating in 1931. After high school, she worked as an office attendant in her uncle’s medical practice, which inspired her to study nursing at the Thomas D. Dee School of Nursing. She graduated in 1936 and began a thirty-year career in public health nursing.

She married her sweetheart cousin, Lowell John Roskelley, on June 4, 1938, and they had two children, Diane Bastian (Larry) and Lowell John Roskelley II (Vickie). After moving to California, New York, Texas, Kansas, Georgia, Florida, and North Carolina with Lowell’s military service, they settled in Utah, then in Buhl, Idaho and Idaho Falls, Idaho, where they made long lasting connections among friends and community.  After retirement, they traveled extensively throughout the United States. In 1990, they relocated to South Ogden, Utah to be closer to family.

Alta was a lifelong member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and served faithfully in many callings including temple worker, librarian, family history worker, and visiting teacher. She was still a dedicated visiting teacher at age 100!

She is survived by her sister, Mary Ann; her children, Diane and John; and by her eight grandchildren, Chad Bastian (Wendi), Quinn Bastian (Kelly), Becca Norwood (Chris), Jared Bastian (Carolyn), Rachel Porcaro (Mark), Bastian Parsons (Anne), Katie Bastian, and Joel Roskelley (Stephanie). Her 26 great-grandchildren were also blessed to know her.  She was preceded in death by her husband, Lowell; her sisters, Favell and Joy; and her great-grandson, Jonah Kai Bastian.

Family and friends will remember her constant desire to serve others, her warm kitchen always ready with something delicious, her generosity in word and deed, and the twinkle in her eye when she smiled. She will be missed.

The family would like to express their deep gratitude to those who cared for her in her last months, including her best friend, Patrice Behunin, the AFI Hospice Team, Dr. Glen Biddulph, Wendy and Rhonda, and Lorrie Peterson.

Funeral services will be held on Monday, November 28, 2016 at 10 a.m. at the Ogden Utah Pleasant Valley Stake Center, 5640 S. 850 E.   Friends may visit with family on Sunday from 6 to 8 p.m. at Lindquist’s Ogden Mortuary, 3408 Washington Blvd. and Monday from 9 to 9:45 a.m. at the church. Interment, Smithfield Cemetery at 2:30 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the McKay-Dee Hospital Foundation, 4401 Harrison Boulevard, Ogden, UT 84403, in honor of Alta Roskelley’s nursing education.