Afton Gransden Bloxham Obituary (1926 - 2023)

Afton Gransden Bloxham passed away August 7, 2023, of natural causes incident to age. She was 96 years old. A funeral service will be held Saturday, August 19, 2023, at the John Day Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints starting at 11:00 AM. Afton was born on August 22, 1926, to Joseph Richard Gransden and Mary Effie Smith in Kaysville, Utah. She was the youngest of three children and spent her growing-up years on fruit orchards in Kaysville, Utah. She graduated from Davis High School. During and after her high school years, she worked at Hill Air Force Base as a typist, and she worked nights as a telephone operator. She married Howard H. Bloxham on June 25, 1944, in Corpus Christi, Texas while he was serving in the military. They were blessed with four children. She spent her life following the man she loved for seventy-six years, working beside him, doing whatever the task might be. She drove the school bus, picking up the schoolchildren living on ranches along the route, thirty miles twice a day. She helped in the hay field, fed "hay hands", and helped feed cattle in the frigid Wyoming winters. Afton turned her hand to whatever needed to be done. Howard passed away in 2021. Afton was a gifted and talented person. Music was a big part of her life and there was always music in the home. She was a wonderful seamstress, making her children's clothing, costumes, cheerleading uniforms, and wedding dresses for many years. She had a wonderful eye for color and pattern combinations and, in her later years, took up the art of quilting, making quilts to show at the County Fairs and to give to her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She was always interested in writing and wrote delightful short stories and cowboy poetry from her life experiences of being a rancher's wife. She was invited to present her poetry at several Cowboy Poetry Gatherings, including Elko, Nevada, and Lewiston, Montana. Afton has been an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and has served faithfully for many years in many capacities. She served two missions for the church with her husband. Afton is survived by her children, Dennis Bloxham of Livingston, Montana; Mary (Rondo) Fehlberg of Orem, Utah; Mark (Judy) Bloxham of Miles City, Montana; And Nancy (Dan) Mullin of Mt. Vernon, Oregon; nineteen grandchildren, thirty-six great-grandchildren, and three great-great-grandchildren. She is preceded in death by her parents, siblings, her beloved husband of seventy-six years, and one great-grandchild. Memorial contributions in her honor can be made to Blue Mt. Hospice through Driskill Memorial Chapel, 241 S. Canyon Blvd., John Day, Oregon 97845.