Sarah "Edith" Wight Baxter

Sarah "Edith" (Wight) Baxter, 101, of Union, died Feb. 2 at her home that she loved and lived in for 65 years.

Funeral service will begin at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Union LDS Chapel. Burial will follow at the Union Cemetery.

Edith was born Oct. 19, 1906, to Jesse Lowen and Helen Mabel (Hansen) Wight in Brigham City, Utah. When Edith was 12, her mother died in the great flu epidemic of 1919. Edith lived briefly in northern Idaho where she had moved as a child in a covered wagon. As a teenager, she moved to Union to live with her grandparents. She graduated from Union High School in the Class of 1925. She became a school teacher and first taught at North Powder School for two years. She then taught one year at a one-room school in Ladd Canyon. Her fondest memories were of her teaching days. She stopped working as a teacher soon after marrying William Bowthorpe Baxter in the LDS Temple in Salt Lake City on Aug. 11, 1927.

The family lived in Union except for a short time in Hillsboro and Portland where Bill first worked in a department store. Then when World War II began, he worked in the shipyards. When Bill went to Utah for the military, Edith moved her family back to Union. She secured a loan and bought the house they lived in for the rest of their lives. They celebrated their 62nd wedding anniversary three months before Bill died in October 1989.

Edith was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and continually served in various auxiliaries. She also served in the PTA and many other community organizations and was a member of the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers. For years, Edith sold fresh milk and homemade bread. She loved to garden.

She sewed, crocheted, wrote stories and poems and memorized many poems and stories. Her children and grandchildren will remember her as a great storyteller. Next to her family, her greatest love was poetry, good literature and learning.

Those who knew Edith say she was quietly kind to all. If ever someone showed up in her neighborhood in need, be it a cat, dog or human, they were invited in and cared for. She also took in many foster children. Grandma's door was always open to the grandchildren and all of their friends as well.

Survivors include her children, Kendall Baxter, Diane and Jack Bowen and Don and Joyce Baxter of Union, Jerry and Janice Baxter of Medical Springs, Chrisanne and Richard Hindman of Baker City and Jacque and Charles Carris of Rigby, Idaho; 44 grandchildren; 100 great-grandchildren; and 22 great-great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents; bothers and sisters; husband, Bill; son, Bryce; grandson, Duane; and three great-grandchildren.