Ila Denita Van Leuven Pyrah
Ila Denita Van Leuven Pyrah
1938 ~ 2023
Ila Denita Van Leuven Pyrah was born on January 27, 1938, the daughter of Leona Vilate Hall and Lester James Van Leuven. She was born in Idaho Falls, Idaho. She was the seventh child in her family. Her siblings were Edsel, Ada, Vail, Lee, Miles, Lita, and Connie.
She met her sweetheart, Duane Pyrah while he was working for the Idaho Fish and Game Department. They were married on November 29, 1956. They were later sealed on March 5, 1965, in the Idaho Falls temple.
Ila and Duane were blessed with four children: Brad (born in Jackson, Wyoming on January 7, 1958), Penney (born in Rock Springs, Wyoming on March 18, 1959, Don (born in Jerome, Idaho on June 6, 1962), and JoLyn (born in Lewistown, Montana on January 20, 1971).
Duane’s job moved the family to Jerome, Idaho in 1960 where they became homeowners and grew trees, flowers, and a huge garden. The garden was mom’s pride and joy. From that garden, she canned enough vegetables and fruit for an entire year. One of the things she genuinely enjoyed was cutting down Iris blossoms from her yard for Memorial Day where we would put them into huge tubs filled with ice to transport them to her mother’s home in Roberts, Idaho. From there, as a family we delivered them to the Annis Little Butte Cemetery (Annis, Idaho) and the Carey Idaho Cemetery.
In 1965 the family moved to Lewistown, Montana which became their home until 2006. During those years, Mom became a well-known member of the community and built many lifelong friendships.
Mom did whatever she could to help the family. Some of the jobs she had over the years were distributing newspapers for carriers in Lewistown to distribute to the local citizens, working at Foster’s Honey managing a team of workers to process honey, clerking at a local clothing store, being an Avon lady, and working in the local school as one of the school secretaries where she retired in 2000. She did all those things while helping instill a love for work in her children as she helped them deliver newspapers for their own routes door to door for many of the papers in town. Her smile and attitude were contagious, and many individuals felt her love when she held those positions. Mom could always be found with a listening ear. She listened to many as they worked through any concerns/issues they had. She also had an attitude of gratitude in every circumstance – she didn’t let any small service go unnoticed or without her thanks.
Ila loved the outdoors and could often be seen camping in many places with her family. Time spent camping was always great family time for all of us. We sat around the fire, took many hikes, picked berries from the local vegetation, and cooked many meals and treats, and loved S’mores and stories around the fire at night.
She loved family history and shared that love of genealogy with many people, serving as the family history director in Lewistown, as an extractor of records online, as well as being anxiously engaged in doing her own family history work.
In January 2006, Ila and Duane moved to Utah where they spent their final years. Ila’s love of quilting graced many people with handmade items endowed with every ounce of love she could put into making them for birthdays, Christmas, babies, and other occasions. She spent many hours at her sewing machine and loved visiting her friends at the Sewing Basket in American Fork.
Ila was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She served in many church callings from Primary to Young Women’s, Relief Society to Family History.
She was preceded in Death by her Husband Duane, Her Parents Lester and Leona, her siblings and one great grandson, William Paul Allman. She is survived by: Brother in Law Wes Fisher ; Children Bradan Duane Pyrah (Debra), Penney Allyn Devey (Ron), Don Evan Pyrah (Tammy) and JoLyn Goss (J. Holmes), Grandchildren Brooke Pyrah (Todd Reynolds and children Savannah, Jackson, Grace, Isabel,) Bryce (Linda and daughter Camilla), Brady (Kayla and children Lyndley and Matthew), Brennan, Scott (and children Anthony Kenney, Nicholas and Tyler), Michelle (Aaron Zaharias and children Austin, Andrew and Danielle), Jennifer (Michael Boehm and children McKinley, Brody, and Natalie), Patricia (Keegan Westphal and son William who preceded Ila in death), Kimberly (William Paras and daughters Addison and Sophia), Orrin (Jordan and sons Rhett and Cal), Brock, and Reva. She was also privileged to add some more children and grandchildren in her later years Kris Tarrant (Kristi and children Cole and Drew), Tiffany (Lance McCann and children Ailey, Evelien, and Luke)
Ila loved each of her children and grandchildren and was seen at her sewing machine every day lovingly sewing gifts for each of them to have from their mother/grandmother/great grandmother each year. This past year, despite her illness, it was particularly important to her that she complete her annual gifts for family and friends, and they were completed and prepared for shipping or delivery early in November.
Mom passed away in the peace and quiet of her home on December 21, 2023, surrounded by her daughters who lovingly watched over her for the closing chapter and pages of her life.
The family wishes to voice their gratitude for the loving care provided by Dr. Marc Nuttall and the crew at the Revere Oncology Center and to Valeo home health, especially Lisa Capt and Tanica Farnsworth for their loving care of mom in her final days, and to the companionship and friendship of Sue Davis in the past few years.
Funeral services for Ila will be overseen by Warenski Funeral Home and will be held on Wednesday, December 27, 2023, at 11:00 am at the Alpine Stake Center, located at 98 East Canyon Crest Road, Alpine, Utah with a viewing being held from 9:30-10:45 am prior to the services also at the church. Interment will be in the Alpine City Cemetery.