Deloris Strong

Deloris Jensen Strong

July 23, 1925 ~ May 31, 2020

Our family is sad to say goodbye to our last member of the greatest generation that ever lived. The people who lived through the great depression and fought through the trials of World War II. They were people who understood right from wrong and were motivated to do good, just because it was ‘the right thing to do.”

Deloris Jensen Strong was born on July 23, 1925 in Preston, Idaho to Hans and Bernice Jensen.  She was the youngest of four children and last surviving member of her family of origin. She dearly missed her siblings Hale, Romania and Farrell. She loved hearing from her nieces and nephews.

Mom graduated from Preston High School, and moved with her parents to Ogden where she went to work at DDO. Mom was just 6 months older than dad, and they met while he was attending Weber High School. Dad has always said, he walked across the stage, received his diploma and got on the bus that delivered him to the Army! While he was away, mom kept doing the things she loved, which included dancing and dating, but her heart was already taken.  Dad was injured and was sent home with a purple heart. He wasted no time at all in reclaiming mom’s attention and affection. With a little plotting and some assistance from others, he surprised mom by hiding out in the backseat of her car. And that was the end of mom’s single life.  Mom and dad were married December 26, 1946.

Our mother’s greatest happiness came from being a wife and mother.  Dad and mom were blessed with three children, Sheryl (Bruce) Cox, Lynda Gardner, and Brent (Terie) Strong and we contributed 11 grandchildren who gifted them with 18 great-grandchildren. The saddest day of mom’s life was September 9, 2014 when dad kissed her hand and said goodbye for the last time, leaving her for the first time in 68 years.

Mother was a natural beauty and she always looked immaculate. She worked full time, but she kept our house in perfect order.  I recall our next door neighbor asking “how does she do it?”  My response was, ‘she doesn’t sleep.”  There were many times that mom was still sitting at her iron-rite pressing the bed sheets, when we went to bed after 10 p.m. Once a week mom would get up at 6 a.m. and sneak around the corner to have her hair done, and be back before we were ever out of bed.

Mom worked fulltime in the insurance and finance industry, for various companies including Heiner’s Insurance. This was a way to support dad in providing for our family. The job title was not a big concern for her. She already had the title she wanted!  Mom and dad were fortunate to be able to serve together in the Ogden LDS Temple. This calling marked the fulfillment of a long deep desire for her and dad to have active roles together in the church. Mom had incredible faith, and that contributed to her longevity and how she dealt with brain surgery at 80 and knee replacement at 90. Eventually her frail body just wore out. She was ready and long awaited a reunion with our father.

We would like to express gratitude to the amazing health care staff at Mountain Ridge Assisted Living. They could not have been more devoted to her well being. We also acknowledge and thank her long term friends who became her family from the Burch Creek 3rd Ward. Thank you all for loving our sweet mother.

The family will honor mother with a private graveside service. Services entrusted to Lindquist’s Ogden Mortuary.

“There she goes”.  Our eyes fill with sorrow as we watch her pass. We cleave to our memories and we rejoice in the knowledge that our father “her eternal companion” along with many other departed loved ones are also watching and waiting, smiling and shouting “here she comes.”